The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional responsibility issued an opinion allowing division of fees with lawyers who practice in jurisdictions that allow fee-sharing with non lawyers. The decision was a routine one based on previous practice.However, the move has sparked a furious reaction from various groups of lawyers in the US which claimed that it was inadvertently supporting nonlawyer ownership and threatening the independence of law firms.
The Illinois State Bar Association was one of the groups which objected to Opinion 464 on the grounds that it created a new policy bypassing the ABA House of Delegates which had recently rejected non lawyer ownership of firms. The association passed a resolution to that effect.
The association claims that it is not making a statement about non lawyer ownership of law fimrs but simly answering the question of whether the rules allow a lawyer to share a legal fee with a lawyer who practices in a firm that shares fees with non lawyers. Currently the District of Columbia is the only one which [permits any form of nonlawyer ownership. Source: ABA Journal
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