It’s Time for Bans on Non-Lawyer Ownership of Law Firms to Go

Current restrictions constrict access to capital and stifle the innovation needed to rise to these challenges. They also hinder recruitment by preventing firms from offering equity stakes or profit-sharing options that top talent, lawyers or not, demands. Worse, they breed insularity. No other sector dismisses highly valued experts, for example, in finance, marketing and technology, by defining them by what they are not — “non-lawyers”? We should stop.

4 minute read February 01, 2026 at 12:05 AM
By
David Morley
It’s Time for Bans on Non-Lawyer Ownership of Law Firms to Go

Bans on non-lawyer ownership and fee-sharing with non-lawyers, such as American Bar Association Rule 5.4 and similar rules in Europe and elsewhere, no longer serve clients, the profession, or the administration of justice.

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