Geographies of globalization: United States law firms in world cities

The empirical core of this paper is a geographical analysis of U.S, law fir ms' foreign offices in 1997. This "geography of globalization" is introduce d through a theoretical discussion of "geography in globalization" where St orper's "economic reflexivity" is related to Sassen's "geographical central ity," to provide a conceptual framework combining territorialism with netwo rk. Three "globalization arenas" are identified (Western Europe, Eastern Eu rope, and Pacific Asia), wherein eight cities house the majority of the for eign offices of U.S. law firms. This uneven globalization is explored throu gh a classification of U.S. firm's geographical schemes, and a potential ca tegory of global law firms is identified. Three of the latter are examined in detail and their claims to be global firms assessed. Here, the concept o f the homeless firm seems to be particularly relevant. We conclude, by re-e valuating our basic concepts to consider how our empirical findings inform some current debates on the nature of globalization.