In a series of influential papers, Larry Ribstein (2010, 2011) delivered his vision about the future of the market of legal services, including legal education and the structure of law firms. In this paper, we review current trends at the global level and discuss the extent to which globalization of legal services has in fact promoted deregulation.

Globalization of legal services tends to be associated with more competition. However, given the particular market structure, there is also pressure for more regulation to protect incumbent players and exclude foreign lawyers. Ribstein believed change was inevitable in the U.S. market for legal services as big law firms are under pressure to change practices and legal education should be more business oriented. The purpose of this paper is to assess the degree to which Ribstein’s important insights apply outside of the United States.