The accounting firm aims to capitalize on Arizona's relaxed law firm ownership rules
KPMG is looking to be the first Big Four accounting firm to launch a law firm in the US, capitalizing on Arizona’s relaxed law firm ownership rules.
In 2020, the state became the first in the country to abolish rules preventing non-lawyers from obtaining an economic interest in law firms; thus, non-lawyers can co-own firms with court approval.
Reuters reported that KPMG US’ new unit, KPMG Law US, convinced a court committee to recommend Arizona Supreme Court approval to practice law in the state. The court is set to consider KPMG’s request for final approval on January 28, as per court certification and licensing director Aaron Nash.
A KPMG Law US spokesperson said in a statement published by Reuters that the unit “will be governed by the same high ethical standards that apply to other law firms.” KPMG US tax practice leader Christian Athanasoulas explained that the firm could also offer its services beyond Arizona, such as by having its lawyers act as co-counsel with lawyers in different states.
He also told Reuters that KPMG is looking to tackle work that would normally be given to clients’ in-house legal teams, including synthesizing and re-drafting vendor and other contracts after a major M&A deal.
“We're not intending to focus, frankly, on any sort of bet-the-company type matters. What we do want to focus on are those places where our clients have told us that they are struggling, and that's largely around large-scale, process-related legal tasks,” Athanasoulas said.
He confirmed that KPMG Law US would not concentrate on litigation; KPMG indicated that it would provide managed services like volume contracting.
“The Big Four are going to be very good at providing certain kinds of legal services that the traditional law firms have typically in the U.S. had a monopoly on,” said David Wilkins, faculty director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, in a statement published by Reuters.
Such services include those that integrate law, project management, and technology. For corporate legal departments seeking to outsource tasks, accounting firms’ size and tech capabilities could stand out, Wilkins said.
