ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that understanding the nature and consequences of legal harmonization in multijural settings requires attention to the availability and quality of multijural human capital. It discusses the deeply local and contextual legal problem-solving that may be required when transactions or relationships cross jurisdictional boundaries using as an example a complex Russian securities offering studied by McBarnet. The chapter examines the market failures that may attend the production of the specialized legal human capital necessary to engage in cross-border problem-solving. It looks at the role of multi-jurisdictional law firms in overcoming some of the failures. The chapter also examines the obstacles to the development of truly multi-jurisdictional law firms posed by the regulation of the legal profession globally. The globalization of the legal services market lags substantially behind the globalization of other goods and services, with an arcane web of barriers to the creation and stability of the truly multi-jurisdictional law firm.
