Where the US leads...

Evidence of poor levels of representation for those on death row in the US might also send a sobering message to the UK

After 10,000 attorneys met in Chicago over the past week for the American Bar Association's annual conference, it is time to ask: what can we learn from legal practice in the US, the home of the largest legal profession in the world?From the conference floor there was again enthusiasm for multi-disciplinary partnerships, albeit, most volubly expressed by a member of one of the big five accountancy firms.

Nonetheless, New York State has recently become the first in the US to adopt rules governing the operating relationships between lawyers and non-lawyers, allowing firmly regulated alliances from November.Back at the conference, there was analysis of how jury selection and jury performance could be improved, something which the current British government might contemplate as it pursues a tunnel vision policy of restricting jury trials.Evidence of poor levels of representation for those on death row in the US might also send a sobering message to UK death penalty proponents.But perhaps the most practically important straw blowing in comes from California.

The US Web site law.com reported last week on the plans of San Francisco-based, 950-lawyer firm Brobeck Phleger & Harrison to put many of its commercial lawyers on part-time working in anticipation of a serious economic slowdown.

If all trends really do start on the west coast, then the good times of the past few years may be over as the whole City salary spiral started in Silicon Valley.