Ethics
Nonlawyers can partly personal legislation companies in Puerto Rico underneath revised ethics guidelines
June 25, 2025, 2:59 pm CDT
Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics guidelines that enable nonlawyers to have an possession curiosity in legislation companies. (Picture from Shutterstock)
Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics guidelines that enable nonlawyers to have an possession curiosity in legislation companies, a departure from Mannequin Rule 5.4 of the ABA Mannequin Guidelines of Skilled Conduct on skilled independence.
Though Puerto Rico’s new ethics guidelines are modeled on the ABA Mannequin Guidelines, the supply permitting nonlawyer possession of companies is a key change, the LawSites weblog studies.
Nonlawyers wouldn’t be allowed to personal greater than 49% of the shares within the legislation places of work, based on a ChatGPT translation of the rule revealed by LawSites.
The rule additionally states that legislation places of work partly owned by nonlawyers have to be operated by attorneys licensed in Puerto Rico. The nonlawyers can not intervene with attorneys’ unbiased skilled judgment and can’t present companies to the legislation places of work.
The Puerto Rico Supreme Court docket, which adopted the ethics rule, plans to evaluate its effectiveness after three years.
The one different jurisdictions that enable nonlawyer possession of companies are Arizona and the District of Columbia, LawSites studies. Utah additionally permits nonlawyer possession however solely underneath the restrictions of its regulatory sandbox program.
See additionally:
Following many years of discourse on nonlawyer authorized companies, questions of motives proceed
How ethics reforms in Arizona led to LegalZoom’s legislation agency
Write a letter to the editor, share a narrative tip or replace, or report an error.
