The discussion on what to do about law schools finds the Wall Street Journal on the dishing end with two articles. One is about how to reform legal education. The basic suggestion is to open up legal training by making…
Posts Tagged ‘discussion’
Reforming Law Schools And The Job Market: What To Do, If Anything?
17
Jan
The discussion on what to do about law schools finds the Wall Street Journal on the dishing end with two articles. One is about how to reform legal education. The basic suggestion is to open up legal training by making…
Moneyball-ing Legal Services (and Law Schools and Law Libraries)
13
Oct
We shouldn’t be surprised that the new film, Moneyball, would lead to a discussion of the applicability of Moneyball-ing law firm hiring and retention, and the value of legal services provided to clients. Heck, seven years before the movie and…
ALA Launches E-Content Blog: Taking a criticial look at the ongoing discussion about electronic content
11
Oct
ALA has launched E-Content, a blog to provide “information on e-books, e-readers, e-journals, databases, digital libraries, digital repositories, and other e-content issues. The blog complements the new section on e-content that appears in the weekly e-newsletter American Libraries Direct (free…
Reminder: LawLibCon’s Teaching Legal Research: By the Book or Off the Cuff? Today at 3:00 PM EDT
16
Sep
LawLibCon is back from summer break. Today’s topic is “Teaching Legal Research: By the Book or Off the Cuff?” From the announcement: A discussion and debate about whether, when and how to use a textbook for teaching a legal research…
Some Thoughts On "Thinking Like A Lawyer"
09
Sep
I’ve been having this ongoing argument discussion with one of my colleagues at DePaul about the ability of law school (generally, not just mine) to adequately prepare students for the real world of law practice. Joe’s post, Resistance? No Doubt,…
Some Academic Libraries Jointly Negotiate Electronic Access Deals
19
Jul
I have only a little bit to add to the antitrust discussion, and that is merely referencing an article published on July 17th in the Chronicle of Higher Education (Premium Content, subscription required). It’s called Libraries Abandon Expensive ‘Big Deal’…
Should law firms be owned by non-lawyer investors?
19
May
There has been much discussion recently in various venues about whether 5.4 of the US Rules of Professional Responsibility should be amended or revised to permit investment in law firms by non-lawyer, or non-lawyer entities, or even ownership of US law firms by non-lawyer entities. The ABA’s Ethics 20/20 Commission is circulating a paper on the subject and is soliciting comments.
Known in the United Kingdom as Alternative Business Structures (ABS), this new form of law firm organization, authorized by the UK Legal Services Act of 2007, will be permitted after October 6, 2011. Alternative Business Structures are already permitted in Australia, where several law firms have already gone public.
Other than the State of North Carolina where there is bill pending to permit non-lawyer ownership of up to 40% of a law firm, there has been little movement in the US to make change Rule 5.4 Some hybrid models are beginning to emerge in the US, but they are a workaround the existing rules.
There is no clear path for non-lawyer ownership or investment in a law firm in the United States, and as a result it is arguable that the legal services delivery system lacks the capital necessary to innovate and create the efficient systems that are necessary to serve not only the "latent market for legal services", but existing legal markets more effectively. Resources from Labor Law Compliance Center offer mandatory federal & state labor law posters or combination labor law posters for government business compliance.
Now comes Jacoby & Meyers, a law firm that has pioneered in changing the way legal services are delivered, filing multiple law suits in the Federal District courts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut against the presiding state justices in those states responsible for implementing and enforcing Rule 5.4, requesting that the Rule by overturned. The Complaint makes clear that Jacoby & Meyers "seeks to free itself of the shackles that currently encumber its ability to raise outside financing and to ensure that American law firms are able to compete on the global stage"
Click here for a complete version of the Complaint.
Andrew Finkelstein, the Managing Partner of Jacoby & Meyers, and also the Managing Partner of Finkelstein & Partners, said that "No legitimate rationale exists to prevent non-lawyers from owning equity in a law firm. The time has come to permit non-lawyers to invest in law firms in the United States,"
Now the fun begins!
Disclosure: Finkelstein and Partners is a subscriber to our DirectLaw Virtual Law Firm Service.
