The lawyer profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The lawyer profession - Essay Example Thus, countries like the United Kingdom and Australia have taken this issue seriously and have made amendments to lawyer’s regulations. More accurately, they have taken challenges related to new technology seriously in order to stay shoulder to shoulder with these new developments . The Task Force on the Future of the legal Profession in The United State recommends, "NYSBA’s Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct should study and make recommendations concerning the ethical and risk management considerations associated with new technologies such as social networking, third party hosted solutions, and virtual law firms." This recommendation leads us to the same conclusion. It confirms the impact of globalization on the local legal market and private practice. More importantly, it shows the importance of updating the law with these new progresses. However, law practice management is centered around four key elements which are Law Firm Structure and Billing, Educating a nd Training New Lawyers, Work-life Integration, and Technology. On this paper, I will be focusing on one of the key element, which is law firm structure. Saudi Arabia has many problems relating to these four key elements of law practice management stated above. However, I have chosen to talk about the problem of law firm structure where an amendment to the law discussing law firm structure, particularly, partnership between lawyers, will have a significant impact on the other three elements. Additionally, it will be of benefit to the legal market in general. The Saudi Code of Law Practice is only ten years old.4 The legal profession prior to the issuance of the Code of Law practice was known as Agent profession â€Å"Mehnat Alwakalah.† The laws used to govern lawyers were grouped into eleven articles, eight of which are mentioned in the Organization of Administrative Functions in the Shari’ah Court System (from Article 59 until 66).5 Three of the articles were referred to in the Law for Centralizing Responsibilities in the Shari’ah Court System. 6 One of the most important rules embodied in those articles was the rule that allows those who do not hold law or Shari’ah degree to become lawyers.7 This continued until the enactment of the Law of Procedure before Shari’ah Courts, under the Royal Decree No. M/21, in 19 August 2000. Article 265 of the Law of Procedure Before Shari’ah Courts statues, â€Å"This Law shall supersede the Organization of Administrative Functions in the Shari’ah Court System, sanctioned by Royal Approval No. 109, dated 24 Muharram 1371 [14 October 1952], as well as Articles (52, 66, 82, 83, 85) and (84 regarding civil cases), and 85 of the Law for Centralizing Responsibilities in the Shari’ah Court System, sanctioned by Royal Approval No. 109, dated 24 Muharram 1372 [14 October 1952], and whatever provisions that are inconsistent therewith.† The lawyer profession that exists today in Saudi Arabia existed hundreds of years ago in the Islamic empires Ottoman and Abbasid. More notably, there is evidence to suggest that lawyers exis ted before that.8 Before 1932, Saudi Arabia was known as the Arab Peninsula. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by the King Abdul-Aziz bin Saud in 1932.9 Before that time, Islamic law was the main source of law that governed lawyers in the Arab Peninsula. In Islamic law, lawyers used to be called Litigation Agents (Wakel Blkosomah). Many Islamic books discuss the rights and obligations of Litigation Agents and other issues related to their profession.10 The United States is the world’s largest service market and was the worlds’ largest cross border exporter and importer of services in 2009.11 Thus, it