by: rick telberg <\/p>\n

july 19, 2000 (smartpros<\/a>) ? by a 3-to-1 margin, the ruling legislature of the american bar association last week reaffirmed its strong stance against multidisciplinary practice. <\/p>\n

but most long-time observers of both the legal and accounting professions agree that the vote cannot stop accountants or lawyers from working together. the market forces are too strong to resist.<\/p>\n

by a vote of 314-106, the aba house of delegates sought to “preserve the core values of the profession” by encouraging state bar associations and other regulators to prohibit lawyers from sharing fees with non-lawyers or granting ownership or control over law firms to outsiders. <\/p>\n

the vote climaxed at least two years of sometimes vitriolic debate within the legal community. meanwhile, accountants slowly made inroads into the legal market. in one memorable war cry, paul sax, the head of the aba tax section, called upon his colleagues to man the barricades against cpas. “we fight, they act. we debate, they hire lawyers,” sax said. “while we figure out what to do, they are taking over our profession!”<\/p>\n

the legal profession may see the vote against mdps as a blow to the accounting profession. but don’t be so sure.<\/p>\n

“they are putting off the inevitable,” said art bowman, editor of the atlanta-based bowman accounting report, a newsletter for top cpa firms. “they are fooling themselves if they think they can control their destiny with this vote.”<\/p>\n

mdps “have been around a long time,” says law firm consultant phyllis weiss haserot in a smartpros article “mdps already exist in spirit, if not (legal) form. some of us don?t find them so revolutionary.”<\/p>\n

in fact, law firms have been under attack for years, haserot points out — from real-estate brokers in property transactions; from banks in trusts-and-estates work; from investment banks in mergers and acquisitions; from insurance and benefits firms in estate planning; and from human resources consultants on employment law.<\/p>\n

it wasn’t until the big cpa firms started making inroads that the lawyers started to worry. now many of them are jumping on the bandwagon. ernst & young has launched the law firm of mckee nelson ernst & young in washington, d.c., the only jurisdiction where it’s allowed. and law firms are forming new alliances with accountants. morrison & foerster, horwood marcus and professor walter hellerstein have joined the state and local tax network, which includes kpmg. and pricewaterhousecoopers has a special deal with miller & chevallier.<\/p>\n

at the local level, many small accounting firms and law firms are, in effect, shacking up without getting married. “some cpa firms are already there,” said bowman.<\/p>\n

it’s a mistake for the lawyers to fight the economics of the marketplace. ask the accountants, who for years fought against commissions and non-cpa ownership. “the longer they postpone it,” bowman said. “the further behind they going to get.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by: rick telberg july 19, 2000 (smartpros) ? by a 3-to-1 margin, the ruling legislature of the american bar association last week reaffirmed its strong stance against multidisciplinary practice. but most long-time observers of both the legal and accounting professions … continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"129943,138048,131559,130550,134813,130736","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n