Developing new markets and opportunities

Our work to reduce barriers to market entry overseas has delivered important results over many years. India, Singapore, Brazil, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Korea and South Africa have been the particular focus of recent attention. We have also established a dialogue on admission requirements with Australia and various states in the US to assist individual solicitors who wish to live and work in other jurisdictions.

Market visits and other opportunities

We organised trade missions and other events and secured UK Trade & Investment funding to help solicitors explore and enter new markets. We ran market visits to China, South Africa, Mauritius and Korea. We also took a delegation of lawyers to the International Bar Association conference in Madrid and arranged a variety of networking opportunities and informative roundtables in addition to the standard conference programme. We hosted a successful series of inward trade missions of lawyers from Nigeria, China and India with programmes which included meetings in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds.

We provide training to solicitors working overseas. Our Commercial Lawyers' Training Programmes (which we run in Russia and the Gulf) cover corporate, commercial and finance law, and professional skills topics.

International networking and events in the UK

Lawyers travelled to London from over 25 different jurisdictions to participate in our annual international conference The International Marketplace. The conference provides thought leadership in international legal practice and provides law firms with a forum to discuss international business strategy and innovation.

We also ran a series of International Division seminars and roundtables designed to highlight the growing opportunities that the dynamic emerging economies present for business, trade and the legal profession. Examples include:

• a Think China in Yorkshire seminar held in Sheffield with a focus on intellectual property developments
• a roundtable on the business opportunities in Kazakhstan
• a networking reception with Brazilian lawyers and businesses
• an event to mark the launch of our market report on Ukraine and to highlight the business development opportunities which exist in this market
• a Latin America networking breakfast with presentations from Mexican, Argentine and Brazilian lawyers on their legal services markets
• Africa fighting the downturn: opportunities and challenges for lawyers in an emerging continent.

Representing the profession in the international arena

We represent solicitors from England and Wales at every important international forum, including meetings of the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), the International Union of Lawyers (UIA) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. We are also a member of LAWASIA which brings together lawyers and bar presidents from across the Asia Pacific region, providing a useful forum in which English and Welsh firms can establish relationships. In 2009/10 we co-organised sessions at the ABA's Section of International Law conferences in New York and at the LAWASIA conference in Vietnam. We have also renewed our cooperation agreement with the ABA Section of International Law.

Promoting the benefits of the jurisdiction of England and Wales

The law in England and Wales is transparent, predictable, flexible and supports the needs of modern commerce; in addition English is the language of international business. These features make England and Wales a highly attractive jurisdiction in which to resolve disputes. Working with law firms and the government, we promote these benefits to in-house counsel around the world.

International Division straddles the globe

The International Division is a service provided by the Law Society to help its members develop their international business and build global relationships and profile. It caters for firms and businesses of all sizes, areas of specialisation and geographical focus and location and now has over 130 corporate members. Although many large City-based firms are members, we also have members from smaller, specialist practices with a particular international focus. We have members from all over the world, all of whom are interested in developing their business and their skills in an international context.

Brussels office - monitoring and influencing legislation

Over half of all UK legislation now starts its life in Brussels. This legislation affects the advice that solicitors give to their clients, and the way solicitors are regulated and do business. The Brussels office monitors developments and represents the profession in negotiations with the European institutions. In addition to support and advice, the Brussels office also provides a range of services for solicitors and law firms.