The GATS and Legal Services in Limerick

Laurel Terry

Abstract

One of the most significant regulatory developments for legal services is their inclusion in the 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services or GATS. The GATS was the first world trade agreement to cover services rather than goods and it applies to legal services. The GATS in Limerick is a light-hearted but nonetheless serious effort to address the most important legal services-related GATS developments in the last twelve years. These verses cover the basic principles of the GATS, the ongoing market access negotiations and the efforts to develop disciplines on domestic regulation.