Overview

Over the last 20 years, the process of integrating economic activity across international borders, or ‘globalisation’, has achieved a heightened significance in the business strategies of companies and professional service firms. Globalisation has come to be regarded as an unstoppable force; in the words of former US President Bill Clinton, speaking in November 2000, “the economic equivalent of a force of nature”. However, concern at the rapidity with which the financial crisis spread throughout the world has prompted calls for greater caution. The current reappraisal of globalisation is echoed in issues confronting international professional service providers relating to their exposure to liability risk across multiple jurisdictions.