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January 14, 2025

KPMG Seeks Arizona Law Firm License

As reported by Reuters, a committee in Arizona today is considering an application that could have big ramifications for lawyers. From Bloomberg:

Big Four accounting firms have intermittently been seen as a potential threat to Big Law firms, even though they’ve never competed for complex legal work in the US. Many industry observers have said that could possibly change if the Big Four were able to overcome the barrier to practicing law in the US, the world’s largest and most important legal market.

A committee that makes recommendations to Arizona’s top court is slated on Jan. 14 to review an ABS application filed by KPMG Law US. Arizona, unlike most other states, allows approved entities to provide legal services even if some of their owners are not lawyers.

KPMG and other accounting firms have provided legal-adjacent services to companies in the US, but have been restricted from practicing law or providing legal advice. Most US states’ professional ethics rules limit the practice of law, which has a broad definition, and law firm ownership, to licensed lawyers.

KPMG says that if approved, its work would “complement” the services of traditional law firms. Its focus would be on large-scale, process-driven work, such as volume contracting, remediation exercises, M&A-driven harmonization of contracts, and other legal managed services. Stay tuned!

Liz Dunshee