Lawyers are licensed and regulated by states. In a sense, they are lawyers only when they stay home. They risk discipline and loss of fees if they work where they are not admitted. But the Internet does not recognize borders. It enables lawyers to advise clients anywhere from anywhere. Does it make sense to say that a New York lawyer can advise a Tennessee business owner if both are in the lawyer’s New York office but not if the lawyer is physically or virtually in Tennessee? We have a national legal economy and the technology to serve it, but an increasingly incoherent system to regulate it.

Stephen is the Elihu Root Professor of Law and Barbara is an Adjunct Professor of Law, both at New York University School of Law.