Wall Street Journal, KPMG Wants to Be the First Accounting Giant to Own a U.S. Law Firm. Here’s Why.:
KPMG is poised to break through a longtime barrier and become the first Big Four accounting firm to practice law in the U.S., leveraging a novel Arizona program that allows nonlawyers to own law firms.
State approval for KPMG’s law ambitions is expected as soon as this month, a move that could usher in a sea change in two industries. KPMG says its Arizona-licensed lawyers could perform legal work for clients around the country. That could give it a leg up on its accounting rivals and send a shot across the bow to law firms, which would face new competition for work.
KPMG is taking advantage of a program in Arizona, which lifted a restriction in place in nearly every state that prohibits nonlawyers from owning a law firm. The program, in place since 2021, aimed to expand access to legal services, in large part to address a dearth of lawyers available to help with issues such as family law or immigration.
The accounting firm’s attempt to create its own law firm, KPMG Law, passed a significant hurdle when the Arizona committee that oversees the program unanimously approved the request last week. The company said it wants to offer large-scale services such as drafting and updating contracts, and reconciling legal materials in merger-and-acquisition deals.
KPMG sees this as an opportunity to streamline and expand the work it does for clients, while also allowing it to use artificial-intelligence tools to perform work that would otherwise be outsourced to a traditional law firm.
“We believe that the types of services that we’re going to bring to market, assuming we get our final permission, are very much adjacent to services that we provide today and really address that client pain point head-on,” said Christian Athanasoulas, leader of KPMG’s U.S. tax practice. …
“This is just more frosting on the cake for KPMG and the firm trying to get a big piece of the law marketplace,” said Michele DeStefano, a law professor at the University of Miami.
- ABA Journal, KPMG Advances in Bid to Deliver Legal Services in Arizona
- American Lawyer, Arizona Board Gives Thumbs Up to KPMG’s Bid To Deliver Legal Services
- Bloomberg, ‘Big Four Fear’ Cycle Ramps Up for Law Firms as KPMG Moves to US
- Bloomberg, KPMG Passes Key Step in Forming Big Four’s First US Law Firm
- Financial Times, KPMG Readies Challenge to US Law Firms
- Going Concern, KPMG Is Elbowing Its Way Into Practicing Law in the US
- Reuters, KPMG Plan to Launch US Law Firm Opens New Front for Big Four
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