We live in an increasingly mobile world, and the practice of law and legal licensing must be in tune with the realities of a global society. Many law firms handle cases across state and international borders and operate multiple offices throughout the country and throughout the world because their clients require it. The financial sector, retail merchandisers, construction industry, health care conglomerates, and other businesses all need legal counsel who are versatile and adept at navigating issues that may arise from conflicts in different regions of the country. By catering to clients who now do business on the Web and who make contracts with suppliers and clients ranging from Buffalo to Hong Kong, practitioners can no longer necessarily confine themselves to one locale or county for the entirety of their careers.
While the legal community has adapted to the reality of multi-jurisdictional and cross-border practice, the licensing process for U.S. attorneys is dramatically out of step with these developments. Unlike other professions, law lacks a common licensing test that is shared among all 50 states. Since the early 1990s, there has been one uniform testing system to obtain a medical license for all 50 states.1 In Europe, where there are the added barriers of language and cultural differences, the European Union has had “complete mutual recognition of lawyers who provide services in other Member States” for the past 40 years.2
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