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to general counsel at some of the world’s largest international corporations about their preferred seat and rules. They found that the seat of London was still predominant by quite a wide margin: it was the choice of 32% of general counsel, which does not sound so high until you find out that the next most popular (Geneva) only scored 9%.

The arbitration rules, and seat, adopted may, though, be dictated simply by the negotiating power of the parties. The rules of CIETAC or HKIAC may be chosen by a Chinese or Asian party and the rules of DIAC (Dubai International Arbitration Centre) or GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre by a Middle Eastern party. So the nuances of each seat’s rules are being learned by dispute resolution teams with cross-border ambitions. In that they follow colleagues in finance and capital markets teams, who have long flown in and out of conservative legal jurisdictions to provide advice on deals that will hold up internationally.

On other fronts competition law, which may prise open practice in foreign jurisdictions, poses threats of a different kind. As Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, argues in the Law Society Gazette: ‘Current developments in a number of fields are bumping up against what have long been accepted as lawyers’ core principles.’ Regulatory authorities and the European Commission have placed privilege under sustained pressure, emphasising a lawyer’s role as a ‘control function’ with an enhanced duty to regulators and investigating authorities, at the cost of long-established duties to the client.

Goldsmith is referring to initiatives by global bodies – the Financial Action Task Force (part of the OECD), the World Bank and the United Nations, which in pursuit of ‘laudable goals against crime, corruption and breaches of human rights’ are also turning lawyers into ‘mere gatekeepers of confidential information’, ignoring a ‘nuanced role in a balanced justice system underpinned by mutual rights and the rule of law’.

Of course, one does not need to have ever left the country to be affected, positively or negatively, by globalisation. Recognising this, UK government policy is focused on boosting exports from small and medium-sized enterprises. Stephen Green, minister of state for trade and investment, estimates that 100,000 more SMEs need either to start to export for the first time, or start exporting to new markets to move the UK towards the European average.

His own target to support that growth is to double the number of businesses that form the UK Trade & Investment ‘client base’ from 25,000 to 50,000 in the next three years. As then-president of the Law Society John Wotton pointed out in January 2012, solicitors do not need to be part of an international firm or formal network to have a role. ‘This isn’t just about the big battalions,’ he told the Gazette. Inward trade missions to the UK provide an opportunity for UK law firms to improve their network of international contacts – an opportunity they should make the most of.

‘Being part of an outbound trade delegation can be expensive,’ he notes, but not so meeting members of the many foreign lawyer groups who come to the UK, whose visits are often supported by the Law Society.

Accordingly, that inbound traffic has been actively increased by the Law Society. Over the last two years, Chancery Lane’s international section has arranged eight inward trade missions from priority markets. Through those missions, 200 foreign law firms have traveled to the UK to meet with UK solicitors with a view to building business relationships.

Bateman estimates: ‘Inward trade missions have saved our members approximately 8,000 hours of time outside of the UK and 10 million air miles.’ Over that time, inbound and outbound missions, she notes, ‘have generated, Continued on page 12

Justice secretary Chris Grayling and Russian ambassador Alexander Vladimirovich

Yakovenko at Russian Law Week, which was hosted by the Law Society

Promoting Anglo-Russian links

The Law Society hosted Russian Law Week.

In addition to UK attendees, over 60 academics, senior partners from Russian law firms, and other legal leaders from the federation came to London to engage with UK legal professionals.

Topics covered at the event included:

• Proposals for changes to the Russian Civil Code;

• Corporate governance and shareholder rights under Russian law ;

• Russian court practice current trends;

• Investment climate in Russia;

• Russia’s membership in the WTO: an additional venue for investment disputes? and

• Arbitrating commercial disputes in Russia.

Moscow International Business Centre