External Forces, Internal Dynamics: Foreign Legal Actors and Their Impact on Domestic Affairs

Book Review - Volume 94 - Issue 5

This Review examines the influence of foreign legal actors on jurisdictions that are not their own.  Rachel Stern, a scholar of China, reflects on this point in her groundbreaking book published in 2013.  In her penultimate chapter, Stern discusses how such foreign legal actors wield influence in China because of their presence on the ground.  Building off of Stern’s research, this Review proceeds to ask whether foreign legal actors can influence a domestic environment when that environment prohibits them from permanently working there.  The analysis below will suggest so, arguing that the forces of globalization can enable foreign legal actors to impact even a market that keeps its legal-services borders closed.

PDF Download