For law firms, there is a barrier (in the United States, at least): law firms must be owned by lawyers. Other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia, have

For law firms, there is a barrier (in the United States, at least): law firms must be owned by lawyers. Other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia, have eliminated this requirement and have publicly traded law firms. I assume soon, you’ll start seeing what’s happening here with medical and other professional service practices that have similar ownership restrictions where ownership, services and revenues are theoretically decoupled through creative contracting arrangements, but I don’t know of that having happened yet with a law firm. Most law firms in the United States are now organized as LLPs (a limited liability partnership, which segregates liability among the partners), but notably the most profitable law firm measured in a per capita basis, Wachtell, is still organized as a general partnership with unlimited partner liability. They deliver their clients one-line invoices, containing numbers with many, many more zeroes, for “services rendered.”