This session will address the challenges for the cross-border practice of law arising from the growing involvement of governments in data privacy and information policy. Even the most democratic of governments are seeking to assert control, not only over the transmission of personal information but also where it may be stored and how it may be used. Given the closely interconnected databases upon which large international law firms and their clients necessarily rely, this raises a number of potential difficulties for lawyers and law firms. For example, among the most closely regulated information is personal data. However, in conducting the due diligence required in connection with corporate transactions or the fact-gathering that is a necessary part of dispute resolution, law firms must routinely review certain information regarding individuals, which is, in any case, frequently impossible to disentangle from other information needed by the lawyers. To the extent that the transmission of such information across state borders is prohibited, it may be practically impossible to avoid breaching such proscriptions. And, as governments increasingly attempt to control the places where data may physically be stored, problems are likely to arise regarding legal control over that information and inconsistent obligations for lawyers regarding, for example, privilege, confidentiality and security. Will this become just too complex to manage?