Washington D.C. is the latest jurisdiction to look at whether the rules surrounding law firm ownership should be changed.
Bloombergs report that DC’s bar is to look at alternatives to the present law firm ownership rules, saying it will look at the evolving legal service delivery models, which includes non-lawyer ownership of law firms.
Bar members will have the opportunity to express their views on proposed changes, which would involve fee-sharing and other “alternative business structures” might prove beneficial to firms and their clients.
Such changes have been supported by access to justice advocates across the country who seek more affordable options for Americans seeking legal help. But opponents of rule changes have expressed concerns, including about threats posed to attorney independence and legal ethics, Bloomberg Big Law Business report.
Changes to law firm ownership have already been examined in Arizona, California, and Utah, as well as Chicago, which for the last several months have been weighing similar changes.
Many proposed changes involve modifying Bar Rule 5.4 and its strict limits on law firm ownership.
Andrew Perlman, dean of Suffolk Law School in Boston, said in a written statement that the D.C. Bar announcement is “an encouraging development.”
“Decades ago, D.C. became a leader in this area, and D.C. has the opportunity once again to play a leadership role,” he said.
Big Four Interest
The possibility of changes to the ownership of law firms will be particularly interesting for the Big Four accountancies.
Law firm leaders have noted that the Big Four and other alternative legal service providers, all of whom are already mounting significant competition to traditional law firm services, could take advantage of such a change by opening new legal operations that compete more directly with law firms.
D.C.’s version of Rule 5.4 is already slightly less restrictive than the American Bar Association’s Model Rule 5.4 that most states have adopted, which forbids partnerships between lawyers and nonlawyers if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.
Recent Posts on LawFuel
- Royal Reckoning – The Legal Anatomy of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ArrestLawFuel Law Briefing – In what legal historians are already calling a watershed moment, a… Read more: Royal Reckoning – The Legal Anatomy of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s Arrest
- How Brad Karp Lost the Plot: David Lat’s Forensic Dissection of the Paul Weiss Chairman’s DownfallBigLaw • Analysis The Karp Collapse: David Lat Dissects the Emails That Ended an Era… Read more: How Brad Karp Lost the Plot: David Lat’s Forensic Dissection of the Paul Weiss Chairman’s Downfall
- Legal Market Analysis – BigLaw’s Lateral Frenzy Is Reshaping the MarketThe Perkins Coie exodus in Seattle signals a permanent shift in the lateral hiring labor market that is changing the way top law firms operate. Lateral hiring is no longer just a tactic but an entire business model. When Perkins Coie lost lawyers to the announcement new offices for Morrison Foerster and McGuireWoods. It was in fact a signal of something structural. The departures came as Perkins Coie prepares for its merger with Ashurst, a combination that will create a global platform of roughly 3,000 lawyers. The timing reveals a pattern that now defines elite legal practice: mergers create opportunity, but they also create instability. And instability is oxygen for competitors. What we are witnessing is not a phase. It is the emergence of lateral acquisition as BigLaw’s dominant growth strategy. The New Economics: Why Firms Are Buying Revenue
- Clooneys Team Up with Legal Heavyweight Quinn Emanuel To Don the Cape for Global JusticeIn a world where celebrity philanthropy often feels like a scripted sequel, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) – that noble venture launched in 2016 by Amal Clooney, the hard-wired international barrister from Doughty Street Chambers, and her silver-screen spouse George – has rolled out its Justice Champion Program with all the flair of a premiere. Snagging litigation titan Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as the inaugural partner, this initiative promises a pro bono powerhouse to shield at-risk women from discrimination and violence, while springing journalists from unjust detention for daring to ink the truth.
- Meet Scott Barshay – Paul Weiss’s New Chairman and Wall Street’s Most Prolific M&A LawyerFrom Cravath Star to Paul Weiss Chair Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing writer In one of… Read more: Meet Scott Barshay – Paul Weiss’s New Chairman and Wall Street’s Most Prolific M&A Lawyer
- Brad Karp’s Paul Weiss Exit – When ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Evenings Come Back to Haunt YouBrad Karp’s 18-year reign atop Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ended Wednesday night not with a bang, but with a carefully worded statement about “distractions.” Translation: the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein-related documents last week made his position untenable faster than you can say “conflict of interest.” The emails paint a picture that’s more uncomfortable than a BigLaw associate’s billable hours target. In July 2015, Karp thanked Epstein for “an evening I’ll never forget,” describing it as “truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again.” Epstein’s response? A promise of “many many nights of unique talents” and assurances Karp would “be invited often.” Spoiler alert: those invitations are now exhibit A in why being Chair of a white-shoe law firm and socialising with convicted sex offenders don’t mix well.
- Anthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Triggers ‘SaaSpocalypse’ — $50B Wiped from Legal Tech StocksAnthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Exposes the Vulnerability of the Legal Tech Emperor’s Wardrobe The legal… Read more: Anthropic’s Legal AI Plugin Triggers ‘SaaSpocalypse’ — $50B Wiped from Legal Tech Stocks
- Legal AI’s First Reality Check: What the Claude Shock Means for Law FirmsAI-driven software stocks have slumped as investors suddenly re-price the risks and disruption posed by legal-focused models like Anthropic’s Claude. But for law firms, this is a reset, not a retreat, in the legal AI market. The money is shifting from “AI at any price” to “AI that can survive the coming copyright and compliance storm”—and that is clearly where serious firms should now be focusing. What Actually Happened in Markets The numbers are staggering. On 3 February 2026, a Goldman Sachs basket of US software stocks sank 6% in a single session—its biggest one-day decline since April’s tariff-fueled selloff. A parallel index of financial services firms tumbled almost 7%. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 2.4%. The trigger? Anthropic released new AI automation capabilities targeting legal, sales, marketing, and data analytics—sectors previously thought insulated from AI disruption. The carnage was immediate and global:
- Why Was Jeffrey Epstein Trying to Get BigLaw’s Brad Karp Into Augusta National?The Augusta Connection: Why Did Jeffrey Epstein Want to Get Brad Karp Into America’s Most… Read more: Why Was Jeffrey Epstein Trying to Get BigLaw’s Brad Karp Into Augusta National?
- BigLaw Pay – Taylor Wessing’s Top Rainmaker Banks the Legal Equivalent of a Premier League SalaryTaylor Wessing’s highest-earning partner managed to haul in a whopping £200,000 a week in the latest financial year — that’s roughly the same as a Premier League striker on a good bonus season. It highlights just how ludicrous top-end pay has become in London’s legal market. According to Law Society Gazette, the top-paid LLP member at Taylor Wessing managed to net that £200k-a-week haul as profits were dished out across the partnership. That kind of pay packet makes even the notorious Cravath scale seem almost modest. Sure, mid-market firms can cry “but we’re all about work-life balance,” but when your top partner’s annual take amounts to north of £10m, it’s hard not to feel the sting of disparity.
