Global Legal Compass

Provides multi-jurisdictional legal research and comparison across 9 regions and 10 domains, including contracts, IP, compliance, disputes, and regulations.

Global Legal Compass (全球法律罗盘)

Description

A comprehensive multi-jurisdiction legal intelligence skill spanning 9 major jurisdictions (US, EU, UK, China, Japan, India, Singapore, Australia, UAE) and 10 legal domains. Provides cross-border legal research, regulatory comparison, contract analysis, compliance mapping, case law search, IP strategy, data privacy assessment, sanctions screening, M&A threshold analysis, and international dispute resolution guidance. Integrates with WorldLII, EUR-Lex, BAILII, Indian Kanoon, PKULaw, and 15+ other authoritative legal databases.

Keywords: legal, law, compliance, regulation, contract, litigation, GDPR, IP, patent, trademark, M&A, arbitration, sanctions, privacy, corporate, tax, cross-border, international law, case law

Triggers

• "what are the legal requirements for [action] in [jurisdiction]"
• "compare [regulation/law] between [country A] and [country B]"
• "is this contract clause enforceable in [jurisdiction]"
• "what are the M&A filing thresholds in [country/region]"
• "data privacy obligations for [use case] across multiple jurisdictions"
• "search case law on [legal question] in [jurisdiction]"
• "international arbitration options for [type of dispute]"
• "IP protection strategy for entering [market]"
• "is [entity/country] subject to sanctions"
• "employment law comparison: [country A] vs [country B]"
• "what is the statute of limitations for [claim] in [jurisdiction]"
• "regulatory landscape for [industry/sector] in [region]"
• "double tax treaty benefits between [country A] and [country B]"

Capabilities

1. Multi-Jurisdiction Legal Research

Search and compare laws across 9 core jurisdictions with structured comparison:

Jurisdiction	Legal System	Case Law DB	Statute DB	Language
United States	Common Law	Google Scholar / CourtListener / PACER	USC / CFR	English
European Union	Civil Law (Supranational)	EUR-Lex / CURIA	TFEU / GDPR / DSA	24 languages
United Kingdom	Common Law	BAILII / Supreme Court	UK Public General Acts	English
China	Socialist/Civil Law	Wenshu / PKULaw	Civil Code / PIPL	Chinese
Japan	Civil Law	Courts.go.jp	JLTP	Japanese
India	Common Law	Indian Kanoon / SCC	DPDP Act 2023	English
Singapore	Common Law	Singapore Law Watch	PDPA	English
Australia	Common Law	AustLII / FedCourt	Corporations Act	English
UAE	Civil/Islamic Law	DIFC / ADGM	DIFC Laws	Arabic / English

2. Legal Domain Coverage (10 Domains)

Contract Law

• Cross-border contract analysis under CISG (97 contracting states)
• Clause enforceability checks: force majeure, limitation of liability, indemnification, governing law, dispute resolution
• Common Law vs Civil Law divergence points (consideration vs cause, good faith obligations, penalty clauses)
• Boilerplate audit: entire agreement, severability, assignment, waiver, notices

Corporate Law & Governance

• Entity type comparison across jurisdictions (LLC / GmbH / Ltd / K.K. / 有限公司 / Pte Ltd)
• Fiduciary duty standards by jurisdiction
• M&A deal structures: share purchase vs asset purchase vs merger
• Cross-border investment screening: CFIUS (US), FDI screening (EU), NSIA (UK), FDI Policy (India)

Intellectual Property

• Patent strategy: PCT filing roadmap, first-to-file vs first-to-invent, grace periods
• Trademark: Madrid Protocol designation strategy, use requirements by jurisdiction
• Copyright: Berne Convention coverage, fair use (US) vs fair dealing (UK/Commonwealth) vs enumerated exceptions (EU/CN)
• Trade secret: DTSA (US) vs EU Directive vs CN Anti-Unfair Competition Law
• AI-generated content IP status (emerging, jurisdiction-dependent)

Data Privacy & Protection

• 8-regime comparison matrix: GDPR / CCPA/CPRA / PIPL / LGPD / DPDP Act / APPI / PIPA / PDPA
• Cross-border data transfer mechanisms: SCCs, BCRs, adequacy decisions, CBPR, APEC
• Data breach notification timeline by jurisdiction (72 hours GDPR, "without undue delay" CCPA, etc.)
• DPO requirement, DPIA triggers, data subject rights comparison

Employment & Labor

• At-will (US) vs just-cause (most other jurisdictions) termination frameworks
• Non-compete enforceability map (California ban vs global variance)
• Remote work / work-from-home: tax nexus, employment law applicability, permanent establishment risk
• Gig worker classification trends globally (Uber cases across jurisdictions)

International Trade & Sanctions

• Sanctions screening workflow: OFAC SDN + EU Consolidated + UNSC + OFSI + DFAT
• Export control classification: ECCN (US), Dual-Use Regulation (EU), military end-use
• WTO dispute resolution process overview
• FTA utilization analysis: rules of origin, cumulation, tariff preference

International Tax

• OECD BEPS 2.0 Pillar 1 & 2 implementation status by jurisdiction
• Withholding tax rates on dividends/interest/royalties under major tax treaties
• Permanent establishment risk assessment for digital/remote business models
• Transfer pricing documentation: master file, local file, CbCR requirements

Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

• Arbitration venue selection guide: ICC vs SIAC vs HKIAC vs LCIA vs SCC vs DIAC
• New York Convention enforcement (172 states)
• Investment treaty arbitration (ICSID)
• Litigation vs arbitration trade-off analysis for specific disputes

Competition / Antitrust

• Merger control thresholds: US (HSR ~$119.5M), EU (€2.5B+ / €100M+), CN (¥12B+ / ¥800M+), UK (share of supply)
• Abuse of dominance standards: US (consumer welfare) vs EU (special responsibility) vs CN (internet platform rules)
• Cartel enforcement and leniency programs
• Digital markets regulation: DMA (EU), proposed US legislation, platform antitrust in Asia

Crypto / Digital Assets Law

• MiCA (EU) comprehensive crypto regulation
• SEC vs CFTC jurisdiction (US) — Howey test for digital assets
• VASP licensing: HK SFC, Singapore MAS, Dubai VARA
• FATF Travel Rule implementation status by jurisdiction
• Stablecoin regulation, CBDC legal frameworks, DeFi liability

3. Research & Output Framework

For any legal query, follow this structure:

Step 1: JURISDICTION IDENTIFICATION → Which jurisdictions are relevant?
Step 2: DOMAIN CLASSIFICATION → Which legal domains apply?
Step 3: PARALLEL SEARCH → Execute jurisdiction-specific + domain-specific searches
Step 4: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS → Side-by-side comparison where multiple jurisdictions
Step 5: REGULATORY CITATION → Cite specific statutes/articles with public URLs
Step 6: CASE LAW REFERENCE → Where relevant, cite key precedents with court + date
Step 7: RISK FLAG → Highlight non-compliance penalties, liability exposure, timing urgency
Step 8: DISCLAIMER → Explicitly: "This is legal information, not legal advice. Consult local counsel."

4. Output Formats

Regulatory Comparison (Multi-Jurisdiction):

Aspect	US	EU	China	Singapore	Japan
Statute	...	...	...	...	...
Scope	...	...	...	...	...
Penalty	...	...	...	...	...
Key Date	...	...	...	...	...

Case Law Brief:

• Case name + Citation + Court + Date
• Facts (2-3 sentences)
• Issue (legal question)
• Holding (the court's answer)
• Reasoning (legal principles applied)
• Relevance to query

Compliance Checklist (for specific use case):

• Requirement 1 — applicable under [statute §X]
• Requirement 2 — deadline [date], penalty [amount]
• ...each item with actionable guidance

Contract Clause Analysis:

• Clause text
• Governing law analysis
• Enforceability assessment (by jurisdiction)
• Risk level: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
• Suggested negotiation fallback positions

Workflow

User Legal Query
    ↓
[Step 1] Identify jurisdiction(s) + legal domain(s)
    ↓
[Step 2] Parallel web_search across jurisdiction-specific databases
    ↓
[Step 3] web_fetch primary legal sources (statutes, regulations, key cases)
    ↓
[Step 4] Cross-reference with legal_sources.json jurisdictional data
    ↓
[Step 5] Apply domain-specific analysis framework
    ↓
[Step 6] Generate comparative table if multi-jurisdiction
    ↓
Final Output: Structured legal brief with citations + risk flags + disclaimer

Usage Guidelines

1. No Legal Advice: Always append disclaimer — "This is legal information for educational/research purposes. For binding legal decisions, consult a qualified attorney in the relevant jurisdiction."
2. Source Dating: Every citation must include the effective date or last-updated date. Flag any legal content older than 6 months as potentially outdated.
3. Primary Sources Preferred: Prioritize official government legal databases (EUR-Lex, BAILII, Congress.gov) over secondary commentary. Use secondary sources (Lexology, Mondaq) for interpretation only.
4. Conflict Disclosure: When legal positions differ between authorities within the same jurisdiction (e.g., circuit split in US), explicitly note both positions.
5. Emerging Areas: For rapidly evolving areas (AI law, crypto, gig economy), note "This area is under active legislative/regulatory development" and provide the latest known status.
6. Language: Match response to user's language. For non-English jurisdictions, provide both original language statute name and English translation where available.
7. Sanctions First: For any cross-border transaction query, always check sanctions applicability before proceeding to substantive analysis.

Examples

Query: "We're a SaaS company expanding to Germany and Japan. What data privacy obligations do we have?"

Response Structure:

1. Jurisdiction identification: Germany (GDPR, Member State) + Japan (APPI)
2. GDPR analysis: extraterritorial scope, lawful bases, DPO requirement for processing special categories, SCCs for data transfer, 72-hour breach notification, €20M/4% penalty
3. APPI analysis: domestic scope + cross-border transfer rules (consent + equivalent protection), PPC oversight, ¥100M penalty
4. Comparison table: GDPR vs APPI — scope, DPO, breach timeline, cross-border mechanism, penalty
5. Compliance checklist: 12-step actionable items for SaaS deployment in both jurisdictions
6. Disclaimer

Query: "Search US case law on whether clicking 'I agree' constitutes valid electronic signature"

Response Structure:

1. Domain: Contract Law / E-SIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001) / UETA
2. Key cases with case briefs: (a) Specht v. Netscape, (b) Register.com v. Verio, (c) Meyer v. Uber, (d) Kauders v. Uber
3. Legal principle synthesis: Clickwrap vs browsewrap, reasonable notice, manifest assent
4. Circuit split notation (if applicable)
5. Practical guidance for enforceable clickwrap design
6. Disclaimer

References

• references/legal_sources.json: 9 jurisdictions × 10 legal domains, 15+ legal databases with URLs, sanction regimes, arbitration venues, data privacy penalty comparison (8 regimes), M&A filing thresholds, entity types, IP treaty framework