Lawyer Ownership of Alternative Business Structures: A Tiny Step Toward the Future

In his Professional Responsibility column, Anthony E. Davis examines Formal Opinion 499 just issued by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. The title of the Opinion is Passive Investment in Alternative Business Structures, and it addresses whether and in what circumstances lawyers may be involved in alternative business structures (ABS).

In this article, Anthony will look at the Opinion from two perspectives: what (limited) progress it represents in addressing the need to reform the regulatory system governing lawyers; and what it leaves undone, hopefully to be addressed another day.

You can read “Lawyer Ownership of Alternative Business Structures: A Tiny Step Toward the Future," published by the New York Law Journal on September 30, 2021, at the NYLJ website (subscription may be required).