Personal Injury Titan Morgan & Morgan Weighs Minority Stake Sale

The largest personal injury law practice in the US is exploring a sale to investors, a move that could normalize non-lawyer stakes in the plaintiffs’ bar.

Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan, a Florida-based billionaire and political donor, confirmed he was exploring deal options in a statement to Bloomberg Law on Friday. Morgan said the deal could take the form of a minority stake sale to investors and eventual public listing.

Morgan called the discussions “purely exploratory” and said he had no immediate plan or timeline in place. “We’re simply listening to people smarter than us and working to understand the pros and cons,” he said.

Law firms have few options for accepting investment from outside the legal profession. Some are separating their administrative operations into management services organizations, or MSOs. The structures are designed to handle the back-office functions of legal operations, and unlike a law firm, MSOs can accept investment from non-lawyers.

Morgan & Morgan has made a name for itself through its ubiquitous highway billboards and populist slogan—"For the People.” The plaintiffs firm grossed more than $2 billion in annual revenue, according to Forbes. An MSO sale involving the law firm could mark the biggest such transaction in the legal space on public record.

MSOs are gaining traction as a way for law firms to accept private equity cash and upgrade their administrative operations. This year, multiple MSO deals have surfaced involving personal injury firms Dudley DeBosier and Hughes & Coleman and another involving private equity deal firm Massumi + Consoli.

Law firms in the US have historically been barred from sharing ownership and profits with non-lawyers. MSOs and regulatory changes in a handful of states in the last few years reflect a growing movement to broaden lawyers’ access to growth capital.

The Financial Times earlier reported Morgan & Morgan’s preliminary deal discussions.