The joint study, conducted by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, and the Project for Attorney Retention, surveyed 700 female lawyer at regional and international law firms.

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Many suits--and some of the biggest verdicts--stem from conflicts of interest, which are becoming more difficult to avoid as law firms combine into international behemoths.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The accounting firms also have huge international networks of offices, dwarfing those of even the biggest law firms.

ECONOMIST: The battle of the Atlantic

These days, many well established Chinese law firms in the major cities have an international department that includes a foreign-credentialed lawyer.

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One second year law and international relations student said it was deplorable that private firms could make profit from student tuition fees.

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Moreover, law firms have themselves become more global in recent years and many do not need the accountancy giants' international reach.

ECONOMIST: Accountancy and law