Lawyers Look at Allowing ‘1-Stop’ Shops

The nation’s largest lawyers’ group soon will consider a major change in the face of American law practice, letting lawyers form partnerships with accountants, psychologists and other professionals. Such arrangements now are barred in all 50 states.

The proposed “one-stop shopping” for people needing professional help has some lawyers worried about possible ethical pitfalls. An American Bar Assn. commission spent 10 months studying the misgivings.

The 350,000-lawyer group’s Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice will unveil its final report Tuesday. People who have seen the report and asked for anonymity say it supports changing the ABA’s model rules of professional conduct and ethical canons.

If the ABA’s policymaking House of Delegates adopts the proposals in August, states would be asked to follow the group’s lead.

An earlier commission report acknowledged that the existing prohibitions on such partnerships are aimed at assuring lawyers’ loyalty to clients by insulating professional judgment from any third-party influence.

Sources said the commission’s final report seeks to maintain the assurance by recommending that nonlawyers comply with confidentiality rules.

The proposal is viewed by some as the legal industry’s effort to beat back growing competition from giant accounting firms. The firms have affiliated for years with consulting firms that hire lawyers to advise businesses and other clients on such matters as taxes.