Welcome to our 5th issue. In this issue, we examine the scramble for the African legal service market by internati onal firms, led primarily by English and American firms. We look at the pros and cons of this issue. What we found particularly concerning is that many African law firms are either oblivious to the scramble for their market, or ill-equipped to take advantage of the growth of the African legal services market themselves. We have identifi ed three major causes of this state of affairs, lack of capacity, capital and regulatory myopia by some Bar Associati ons in Africa. In many African jurisdicti ons, the regulatory frameworks are not only archaic, but militate against growth of local fi rms, leaving the way open for the internati onal fi rms which are not similarly
encumbered to seize the initi ati ve. We are therefore using this platf orm to call for reforms which recognises that the practi ce of law is not only a profession, but a business.
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