Will Law Firms Go Public?

Abstract

Law in the United States is a big business and big law firms are a global business. Currently, under rules of the American Bar Association (ABA) and most states law, firms are not allowed either to include non-lawyers as partners or accept equity investments from non-lawyers. This Article will argue that (even if law firms retain the form of partnerships) they eventually will accept investments from third parties, and possibly even go public, but this development could lead to a loss of professionalism, as it has with other industries, and could also lead to the end of self-regulation. Among the matters discussed are: legal ethics rules regarding law firm organization and the work of the ABA Ethics Commission; the changes to the regulation of lawyers in the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere; and litigation attacking current ethics rules regarding outside investments in law firms. Also, this Article will consider the evolution of other industries, and in particular investment banking firms, from closely held partnerships to large public companies, and will speculate about the future of the legal profession.

Keywords: Professional Responsibility, Legal Ethics, Law Firms, Lawyer Regulation in the U.K., Australia and Canada, ABA Ethics 2000, Broker-Dealer Partnerships