Multidisciplinary Practice and the American Legal Profession: A Market Approach to Regulating the Delivery of Legal Services in the Twenty-First Century
129 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2013
Date Written: 2000
Abstract
The modem American legal profession has long maintained that lawyers must control the practice of law.' Only lawyers can directly profit from the practice of law, hold ownership interests in law firms, or collect referral fees.' Rules barring the unauthorized practice of law prohibit non-lawyers from practicing law, and also prohibit lawyers from practicing law in a jurisdiction in which they are not admitted. The organized bar's ethical rules prohibit lawyers from assisting non-lawyers in the unauthorized practice of law and from practicing law in a jurisdiction in which they are not admitted. In the American legal profession, to the extent that non-lawyers are allowed to participate in the delivery of legal services, they must do so as employees or independent contractors under the supervision of lawyers.
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