Are Bar Associations Anticompetitive? An Empirical Analysis of Recommended Prices for Legal Services in Spain

The European Commission Report on Competition in Professional Services found that recommended prices by professional bodies have a significant negative effect on competition since they may facilitate the coordination of prices between service providers and/or mislead consumers about reasonable price levels. Professional associations argue, first, that a fee schedule may help their members to properly calculate the cost of services avoiding excessive charges and reducing consumers’ searching costs and, second, that recommended prices are very useful for cost appraisal if a litigant is condemned to pay the legal expenses of the opposing party. Thus, recommended fee schedules could be justified to some extent if they represented the cost of providing the services. We test this hypothesis using cross‐section data on a subset of recommended prices by 52 Spanish bar associations and cost data on their territorial jurisdictions. Our empirical results indicate that prices recommended by bar associations are unrelated to the cost of legal services and therefore we conclude that recommended prices have merely an anticompetitive effect.

A Summary of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Jurisdiction in Cyberspace Project: “Achieving Legal and Business Order in Cyberspace: A Report on Global Jurisdiction Issues Created by the Internet”

"Suite à plus de deux années de recherches, le projet de l’American Bar Association (ABA) concernant la juridiction du cyberespace, « Achieving Legal and Business Order in Cyberspace: A Report on Global Jurisdiction Issues Created by the Internet », a été publié dans l’édition du mois d’août 2000 de la revue juridique The Business Lawyer. Ce rapport poursuivait deux objectifs distincts : Tout d’abord, effectuer une analyse globale des complexités potentielles entourant les conflits juridictionnels découlant du commerce en ligne. Ensuite, élaborer une liste exhaustive des solutions pouvant être utilisées pour résoudre de tels conflits. Le présent article se veut un résumé concis et accessible des trois grandes sections du « Cyberspace Jurisdiction Report » : (1) les solutions proposées aux problèmes juridictionnels découlant des conflits résultant du commerce électronique ; (2) afin d’appuyer les solutions proposées : l’utilisation d’exemples d’occasions où la technologie a déjà, par le passé, causé la métamorphose de certains paradigmes juridictionnels; et (3) afin d’appuyer les solutions proposées : l’utilisation d’un contexte doctrinal."

Proceedings of the ... annual sessions of the Texas Bar Association.

The 13th-21st include "Rules for the courts of Texas."

Report of the Louisiana state bar association.

List of members in each volume.

Report of the ... annual session of the Georgia Bar Association.

List of members in each volume.

Report of the ... annual meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Mode of access: Internet.

Report of the proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the Missouri Bar Association

Title on header: Missouri Bar Association reports.

Report of the Louisiana Bar Association for ...

Includes proceedings of the annual meetings of the Association; v. 15 (1914) contains proceedings of joint convention of Louisiana and Mississippi bar associations; v. 27 (1926) contains proceedings of joint convention of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas bar associations.

Proceedings of the ... annual session of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Mode of access: Internet.

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Mode of access: Internet.

Proceedings of the Bar Association of North Dakota for the year ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Proceedings of the North Dakota Bar Association.

First volume includes proceedings from the Association's organization, Sept. 19, 1899, to and including the annual meeting of Sept. 21, 1904.

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the Oklahoma State Bar Association.

List of members in each volume.

Report of the ... annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

List of Bar Associations in Pennsylvania, in v. 2 (1896)-

Transactions of the ... annual meeting of the South Carolina Bar Association.

Includes list of members and constitution and by-laws.