It cannot be argued that according to the recent Omani law the accused has the right of access to a lawyer at any stage of the criminal proceedings. Nevertheless, it could be argued that the accused at some points may access a lawyer if he has one, otherwise the state is not obliged to offer him one under any circumstances and in any kind of crimes. There is no single rule stating that the accused must be represented by a lawyer even if he is facing capital punishment. Although the Omani law gives the accused the right to have the lawyer that he hired present with him during the investigation in general terms, there are no provisions to ensure that mechanisms are put in place which guarantee the effectiveness of such right. The Omani legislator has followed the approach upon which the presence of the lawyer is permissible, although this does not necessarily apply during the pre-trial stages in all cases. This research argues that, having no right of free access to a lawyer privileges those who are wealthier because such accused have the means to appoint a lawyer from the outset, a capacity that often evades the poorer accused. If the accused cannot afford a lawyer, the state should appoint one for him, grounded in the motivations of the state being concerned with achieving justice. The research addressed the question whether the Omani Law and particularly the Penal Procedures Code succeed in guaranteeing the accused right of access to a lawyer. Moreover, it considered whether the Omani law set the required procedures and safeguards to make all officials in charge of investigations and trials commit to respecting this right at all circumstances. These issues are considered by critically analysing the relevant Omani law and case law as well as looking at other legal frameworks, with special reference to the Egyptian System. This comparison has been provided in order to give a contextual base upon which the practicing of this right within the Omani Procedures Code can be critically analysed. This study found that there is a great deal of reform for the Omani legislator to urgently do in regard to the right of access to a lawyer during all criminal proceedings stages.

This research engages critically with major public sector accountability theories in relation to the development of law centres in Aotearoa/New Zealand (and comparative international examples) focusing on the two centres in Otago, the Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre and the Dunedin Community Law Centre. Definitions of accountability are argued to be embedded within theoretical discourses which produce definable models of accountability corresponding to these theoretical statements. Case studies of the discourses of both law centres and their funding bodies are described and contrasted in terms of their views of the role of law centres, interaction with various interest groups and their accountability relationships. The data identifies a desire of both community law centres to engage with a communitarian, �bottom-up�, model of accountability, in contrast to the former social democratic-bureaucratic and current liberal �stakeholder� and �contract� models of the official funding agencies. The current dominance of the liberal �stakeholder� discourse is seen as based on professional power, hierarchical legal structure and control of funding. It is argued that any shift in the dominance of power relationships surrounding community law centres in Aotearoa/New Zealand would entail a strengthening of ties and links with the community, through seeking alternative power supports, a participatory structure and locally controlled funding. Keywords: accountability; power relationships; community law centres; dominance; community.

In the late 1990s a number of law firms and other organisations began to market online products which &quotpackage&quot legal knowledge. Unlike spreadsheets, word processing software and email, these products are not designed to provide efficiency improvements. Rather, online legal knowledge products, which package and apply the law, were and are viewed by many as having the potential to make major changes to legal practice. Many used the term &quitrevolution&quot to describe the anticipated impact. Like any new technology development, many intersecting factors contributed to their development. In many ways they built on existing uses of technology in legal practice. The various information technology paradigms which underpin them - text retrieval, expert systems/artificial intelligence, document automation, computer aided instruction (CAI) and hypertext - were already a part of the &quotcomputerisation of law&quot. What is new about online legal knowledge products is that as well as using technology paradigms such as expert systems or document automation to package and apply the law, they are developed using browser-based technologies. In this way they leverage the comparative ease of development and distribution capabilities of the Internet (and/or intranets). There has been particular interest in the impact of online legal knowledge products on the legal services provided to large commercial organisations. With the increasing burden of corporate compliance, expanding role of the in-house lawyer and pressure to curb costs, online legal knowledge products should flourish in commercial organisations and many have been adamant that they will. However, there is no convincing evidence that anything like a &quotrevolution&quot has taken place. Success stories are few and far between. Surprisingly few have asked whether this &quotrevolution&quot has failed, or seriously analysed whether it lies ahead. If it does lie ahead, what factors, if any, need to taken into account in order for it to take place? If there is to be no revolution, what value should be placed on online legal knowledge products? In this dissertation I use the findings of my own empirical work, supported by a literature survey, to demonstrate that the impact of online legal knowledge products has been modest. I argue that in order to build successful online legal knowledge products it is necessary to appreciate that a complex system of interacting factors underpins their development and use,and address those factors. I propose a schematic representation of the relationships involved in producing an online legal knowledge product and use the findings of some empirical work, together with a review the literature in related fields, to identify the factors relevant to the various components of this framework. While there are many interacting factors at play, four sets of considerations emerge from my research as particularly important: integrating different technology paradigms, knowledge acquisition, usability, and implementation. As a practical matter, the implication of these findings is that some online legal knowledge products are more likely to be successful than others, and that there are other technology applications that may represent a better investment of the limited in-house technology budget than many online legal knowledge products. I also argue that while most of the challenges involved in integrating different technology paradigms, improving usability, and effective implementation can be addressed with varying levels of effort, the problem of the knowledge acquisition bottleneck is intractable. New approaches to knowledge acquisition are required to overcome the knowledge acquisition bottleneck. I identify some potential approaches that emerge from my research: automation, collaboration and coalition, phasing and simple solutions.

Thesis (M.A. (Political & International Studies)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in Political Studies.

Care ethics is primarily about responding to needs. Yet, surprisingly, attempts to apply the ethics of care in the domain of law have paid almost no attention to the concept of legal needs. This study fills that gap by systematically defining legal needs. It does this by revising current understandings of legal need through a unified conceptual framework for the philosophy of needs and a comparative analysis of legal action, and its major alternatives in dispute resolution and prevention. The conception of legal need that results is both more sensitive to preventative functions of the law and opens the door to a much wider range of policy options beyond legal aid. Legal needs are found to be a special case of institutional needs, i.e. needs that cannot be satisfied without an institution. I argue that the existence of institutional needs means institutions, rather than any particular actor within them, can be caregivers, but not all conceptions of the ethics of care are compatible with this kind of need. Joan Tronto’s conception of care is found to be the most accommodating and is used as a framework for a series of policy recommendations to move us towards a caring legal system.

This dissertation examines the relationship between the situational context of a decision, the amount of information, attributed source of the information and perceived risk in a professional service setting. Perceived risk theory, the dichotomy of goods and services, and factors unique to professional services are discussed relevant to consumer choice. Hypotheses stemming from the literature are offered relating to the perception of performance and social risk, and intent to retain to the amount of information, the attributed source of the information and situational context of the choice. The research was conducted in three phases. Phase one consisted of the development and testing of risk situations and also the construction of the information treatments. Phase two consisted of a pretest to measure the reliability of the test instrument used in phase three. The third phase consisted of two 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design experiments. One experiment used performance risk situation as an independent variable, the other a social risk situation. Both situations were at two levels, high and low risk. The remaining independent variables in both experiments were: the amount of information, at two levels, high and low; and attributed source of the information, either personal sources or advertising. Multiple dependent variables measured three constructs; perceived performance risk; perceived social risk; and intent to retain. Reliability was assessed using (1) correlation analysis; (2) Cronbach's alpha; and (3) factor analysis. Statistical techniques used to analyze the data were (1) multivariate analysis of variance; (2) univariate analysis of variance; and (3) multivariate tests of simple effects. In general, the data analysis resulted in mixed support for the hypothesized effects. While partial support was gained for the effect of information source and amount of information on perceived risk involved in a professional service selection, it also indicated that the effects may be situation specific; and in most cases the effects are not independent but rather interact. Results of the dissertation are discussed with respect to major findings and significance to the area of professional service marketing. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study areas for future research. / Ph. D.

В работе предложено научное обоснование теоретических положений и разработаны практические рекомендации по формированию маркетингового инструментария управления отношениями с потребителями на рынке юридических услуг. / Thе dissertation proposes а scientific substantiation of the theoretical provisions and development practical recommendations for formation of marketing tools for managing customer relations in the legal services market.

In dieser Arbeit beschäftigt sich der Autor mit der deutschen Anwaltsorganisation in Form des traditionsreichen Kammermodells. Die anwaltliche Selbstverwaltung durch Rechtsanwaltskammern stellt hierzulande eine besondere Untergliederungsform des Staates dar und verkörpert eine freiheitliche Traditionslinie in der über weite Strecken hierarchisch geprägten Staats- und Verwaltungsorganisation. Dennoch sieht sich das anwaltliche Kammermodell in der Vergangenheit zunehmender Kritik ausgesetzt. Sind die Rechtsanwaltskammern daher möglicherweise als tradierte Relikte deutscher Staatsorganisation zu verstehen? Besteht für die deutsche Anwaltsorganisation ein Modernisierungsbedarf, worin genau liegt dieser und wie ist dies in der Praxis umsetzbar? Hierzu geht der Autor zunächst rechtsvergleichend auf die britische Anwaltsorganisation ein, welche durch den „Legal Services Act 2007“ eine grundlegende Neuordnung erfahren hat und die für die Anwaltsorganisation in den europäischen Mitgliedstaaten insoweit eine Vorreiterstellung einnimmt. Die Anwaltstätigkeit der Solicitors und Barristers ist mittlerweile zur juristischen Dienstleistung in einer „Legal Services Industry“ geworden und die privaten Berufsverbände Law Society und Bar Council haben ihre Regulierungsbefugnisse an den neu eingeführten „Legal Services Board“ verloren, weshalb ihnen fortan originär nur noch die Aufgabe der Interessenvertretung verbleibt. Der Autor unternimmt anschließend den Versuch, praxisnahe Vorschläge für die Modernisierung der Rechtsanwaltskammern zu unterbreiten. Hierzu wird der den britischen Reformen innewohnende „britische Dienstleistungsgedanke“ fruchtbar gemacht und in das anwaltliche Kammersystem implementiert. Im Ergebnis werden die Rechtsanwaltskammern vom Autor als moderne staatliche Dienstleister qualifiziert, denen neben den klassischen Aufgabenbereichen „Regulierung“ und „Interessenvertretung“ unter dem Gesichtspunkt der „Förderung des Berufsstandes“ und im Rahmen des verfassungsrechtlich Zulässigen verstärkt die Aufgabe eines Dienstleisters zugunsten der eigenen Mitglieder zukommen sollte, um deren Zukunfts- und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit in einem sich stetig anglisierenden Rechtsberatungsmarkt gewährleisten zu können. / In this work, the author deals with the german lawyers'' organisation in the form of the traditional chamber model. The lawyers'' self-regulation by Bar Associations (“Rechtsanwaltskammern”) in Germany thereby represents a special subdivision of the state and embodies a liberal tradition dominated by authoritarian state structures and administrative organisation. Nevertheless, in the last years the german chamber model has been encountered to an increasing criticism. Have the German Bar Associations therefore to be regarded as traditional relicts of german government organisation? Is there a need to modernise the german lawyer´s organisation, what exactly is this and how is this implemented in practice? According to this, the author processes on comparative law, namely by analising the british lawyer´s organisation, which has been completely reorganised by the "Legal Services Act 2007" and therefore captures a pioneer role according to lawyer´s organisation in the European Member States. Law practice of solicitors and barristers has now become a part of numerous legal services in a "Legal Services Industry" and the lawyer´s associations Law Society and Bar Council have lost their regulatory powers to the newly established "Legal Services Board", meaning that they are from now on only originally responsible for the representation of lawyers´ interests. The author then attempts to submit practical proposals for the modernisation of the German Bar Associations. For this, the british reforms inherent the "british service idea" which is fructified for and implemented in the german chamber system. As a result, the author qualifies the German Bar Associations as modern service providers, which should get strengthened in addition to their traditional mission areas "regulation" and "representation" from the point of "promotion of the profession", meaning to strengthen their task of providing services for their own members within the constitutionally permissible in order to ensure their future and competitiveness in an ever-anglicised German legal services market.

No description available.

Abstract In this study, we will research for legal services company about the customer relationship management. We select three city¡¦s legal services company, including Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei. The research variables are customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, brand, Guanxi and customr relationship management. In this study, we use qualitative analysis method and to interview the legal services partner to get first-hand data. About customer¡¦s satisfaction, customers care about the quality more than price. In most cases, the company doesn¡¦t use customer satisfaction surveys to understand customer needs. About customer¡¦s loyalty, new customers majority is recommended from the old customers. If the company fail the case, there are still 70% of customers are willing to continue to cooperation. About the Brand and Guanxi, different cities and different legal services are showing different data. About the customer relationship management, the legal services and customer interaction are dominated by academic exchanges and good customer management will enchance the satisfaction, loyalty and increasing revenue. Keywords: legal services, customer relationship management, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, Brand, Guanxi.