Buzz Archive:
Making Legal Investments

by Simon Witney, Partner, SJ Berwin LLP, 11/19/2007

On October 30th, the UK passed a law which will throw its legal services market wide open. When the new rules come into force (which will be in stages between now and 2011), private investors will (in principle) be able to buy into UK law firms for the first time (this is still prohibited in the U.S. and many other countries). Those firms will also be able to float on the stock exchange, and non-legal organisations will be able to compete with established providers.

Faced with shareholder activism--might legal fees be more competitive? Interesting--you bet. So read more from Simon Witney, Partner, SJ Berwin LLP and sound off whether the US and other jurisdictions should open law firms to the for-profit investment world.