Liberalization of trade on legal services

Abstract

The work will analyze the provisions relating to legal and professional services contained in each of them, as well as their approach to liberalization. After that, it will point out the implications of each of these approaches, adopted by the two types of agreements: positive list approach, adopted by the GATS-like agreements, and the negative list approach, adopted by NAFTA-like agreements. Chapter II will use an example of each of these agreements that Chile has signed: the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the United States, and the Protocol on Trade in Services between Chile and Mercosur. The first one adopts the NAFTA model and the second one the GATS model. In both cases the Chapter will analyze the specific provisions related to legal services contained in them, and afterwards it will review the commitments that in the case of the Protocol signed with Mercosur each if its countries have made towards Chile, and in the case of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, will analyze the Annexes I and II, containing reservations on the obligations. Both agreements are just examples of agreements that adopt one model or the other. The Free Trade Agreement with the United States is a landmark in the international commercial relations of Chile, and a good example of the policies adopted by Chile in the context of its international insertion. In the case of Mercosur, it is an agreement Chile has recently negotiated for trade in services. It has not been approved yet by the Congresses of the countries involved. The first section of Chapter III will review the main obstacles to trade on legal services. These obstacles are related with national treatment, market access and domestic regulation. The next section will show the results of a series of interviews made to lawyers who form part of different Chilean well known legal firms. Guided by certain questions, the interviews look to build a point of view on how the international Chilean legal services market works: what are the types of services traded, to which countries these services are being provided, in which modes are they being supplied, etc. Finally, the work will assess if the agreements signed by Chile to liberalize services, are useful for the Chilean legal services providers, namely big national law firms. Knowing the characteristics of the Chilean legal services market, and the obstacles that usually trade in legal services faces, it will intend to assess if the agreements are useful, and eventually what provision should be revised to get the most out of them.