This spring the American Bar Association’s Commission on the Future of Legal Services revived long-running arguments over whether to allow outside investors to fund law firms. In an April issues paper, the commission noted that the United States stands apart from most other jurisdictions in mostly prohibiting such investments, and it asked the legal industry for its views.
The debate could have major implications for access to legal services and for the future of firms that compete globally. But when the ABA posted in May all 72 comments that it had received by the deadline, Big Law was noticeably silent. Zuckerman Spaeder, which wrote a letter in support of so-called alternative business structures (ABS) and multidisciplinary practices (MDP), was the only Am Law 200 firm to weigh in.
