The New York State Bar Association will revisit its long opposition to allowing nonlawyers to hold an equity interest in law firms, the bar group’s president, Vincent E. Doyle III, announced on Feb. 2 at an American Bar Association meeting in New Orleans. Mr. Doyle told the ABA’s Commission on Ethics 20/20, which is discussing the issue, that he has appointed a task force, chaired by former state bar president Stephen Younger of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, to re-examine the matter given the changes in the profession and growing globalization that has occurred since it was last addressed.
The ethics commission in December issued a discussion paper that proposes amending Model Rule 5.4 to permit nonlawyers to hold a limited interest in law firms. A similar issue arose about a decade ago when large accounting practices expressed their intent to acquire law firms and promote a multi-disciplinary practice (MDP). The state bar adopted a resolution opposing MDP in 2000 and, subsequently, the ABA House of Delegates voted the proposal down.
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