Canadian lawyers got a glimpse of their future recently—and it just might include welcoming nonlawyers into the fold.
In a meeting in August in St. John’s, Newfoundland, packed with hundreds of lawyers, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) released a report on the future of the legal profession. While Canadian lawyers have not always been quick to embrace change, the study offers a wide-ranging blueprint for innovation, outlining how the legal profession can adapt to a changing marketplace. The most controversial of its 22 recommendations is one that has been anathema in the United States: Lawyers should be allowed to practice in alternative business structures (ABS) that allow nonlawyers to manage or own law firms and to share fees with attorneys.
