Do you remember the first wave of debates about allowing alternative business structures and partnerships with non-lawyers? Back then, a strong opposition within the ABA was based on an argument that I remember as the fear that "Sears" (used generically to refer to any "department store") would start offering legal services.
A few years later that same argument was raised but this time the feared predator was Walmart and the horror of having Walmart offer Optical Services right along with legal services.
And now comes the obvious new version of the same argument, this time with Amazon as the villain.
Amazon recently announced that it would offer low-cost health benefits for Prime members through a partnership with One Medical, a health care business Amazon purchased last year. And I think it is just a matter of time before Amazon tries to find a way to offer legal services. I have been saying this to my students for a while and I do believe it will be an issue some time soon.
But, as you probably know, as long as states still have a rule like Model Rule 5.4 this possible business model is a non-starter. This is the rule that bans lawyers from partnering with non-lawyers if any part of the partnership will provide legal services.
Model Rule 5.4 would ban Amazon and law firms from creating an arrangement similar to the one Amazon has announced for providing health care services, but I foresee the debate will come around again and, who knows, maybe the ABA will decide to follow the footsteps of the few states that are trying new regulatory mechanisms and we will see the rise of Amazon Legal Services....
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