Law Firms Look Like Enticing Targets for Outside Investors

Aug. 21, 2025, 7:23 PM UTC

If it wasn’t already clear, it is now: well-capitalized investors want a piece of the US legal industry.

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The latest example of this trend came this week when the litigation funder Burford Capital announced that now, in addition to financing individual lawsuits, it also wants to buy minority stakes in entire law firms. This comes after the consulting giant KPMG won a license earlier this year to start its own legal practice in Arizona after the state loosened its rules on who can own firms.

On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Emily R. Siegel and Justin Henry talk about the ethical risks that may be involved here and about why companies like Burford and KPMG think investing in law firms could be so lucrative for them.

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To contact the reporter on this story: David Schultz in Washington at dschultz@bloomberglaw.com

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