Legal Assistance in BRICS Countries: Legal Framework for Mutual Investments

Over the 30 post-Soviet years, Russia has operated under a “colonial model” of economic consulting, including legal services. As recently as a few years ago, foreign law firms were estimated to control around 80% of the Russian legal market. The unrestricted entry of foreign consulting firms created an unacceptable level of dependence on Western advisers, exposing the economy to political and legal risks. A sovereign economy requires a sovereign infrastructure. The experience of BRICS countries in regulating their legal markets demonstrates the effectiveness of developing legal services based on national firms. This experience should be taken into account when considering the need to move away from the complete openness of the Russian legal consulting market to foreign legal advisers. What are the ways to improve legislation needed to build a sovereign infrastructure for legal support of economic projects? What legal restrictions are applied in BRICS and SCO countries to protect the national legal consulting market, and how effective are they? What countermeasures should be established to prevent circumvention of such restrictions? Should government support be provided to help develop the domestic legal services market?