International legal work has never been a leisurely occupation. But the quickening of communications in recent decades, starting with the fax machine, leaping forward with the internet and shifting into an even higher gear with mobile email access, has accelerated the pace of international lawyering.
Face-to-face meetings with clients and other lawyers remain a facet of more complex deals, but the accelerated pace of transactions – aggravated by the ability to copy-in multiple parties on every email, and the proliferation of standard form documentation published by the likes of the LMA, Isda, Isma and Isla – has encouraged the commoditisation of legal documents and processes, and nurtured a reliance on 24-hour electronic communication. With modern deals often pulling together counterparties in many jurisdictions, the logistics, cost and (perceived) delay involved in bringing individuals together in one room, particularly on routine transactions, has made physical signings and closings very much the...