Over the past two decades, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia have been engaged in unprecedented efforts to re-cast and rapidly expand the legal profession—with profound implications not only for law, but also for politics, interna-tional relations, and society itself. Raising the Bar is the first book-length study in English of this phenomenon. It examines a broad range of topics, including changes underway in the profession's size and composition, its evolving relationship to state authority, the outlet it may be providing for historically disadvantaged sectors of society, and its impact on economic and political development. The book also explores the impli-cations of these findings for broader theoretical work about both the legal profession and globalization. Contributors in-clude William Alford, Yves Dezalay, Bryant Garth, Ryo Ha-mano, JaeWon Kim, Toshimitsu Kitagawa, Daniel Lev, Ben-jamin Liebman, Setsuo Miyazawa, Luke Nottage, Sang-Hyun Song, and Jane Kaufman Winn.

William P. Alford is the Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and the Director of the East Asian Legal Studies program at Harvard Law School.