In May 2007, the concept of a publicly traded law firm became a
reality when an Australian firm became the first in the world to have its
equity trade on a public market. Legislation passed in the United Kingdom
2007 will allow U.K. firms to do the same. While legal scholars have
broached the idea of allowing publicly traded law firms in the United States,
such proposals have met with little success. This begs the question, why?
This Comment seeks to paint a picture of the intellectual debates
surrounding the passage of reforms that allowed for publicly traded law
firms in Australia and the United Kingdom in an effort to predict whether
similar reform is likely to occur soon in the United States. It concludes that,
because U.S. legal commentators have defined the problems that arguably
warrant reform differently than had commentators in Australia and the
United Kingdom, reform is unlikely at this time in the United States.
Nevertheless, the possibility of competition from international publicly
traded law firms could provide a new incentive for reform in the United
States in the near future.
