The American Bar Association delivered a boost to the growing non-traditional legal services sector by blessing passive attorney investment in law firms that aren’t fully owned by lawyers, under certain circumstances.
By confirming that such investments don’t run afoul of legal ethics rules, an ABA opinion released Wednesday could increase chances that so-called alternative business structures will be able to find surer footing as standards evolve on how to regulate them.
The long-awaited opinion comes as consumer-focused businesses like the website LegalZoom aim to expand their operations amid a push and pull between law firm traditionalists, known for resisting change, ...