Private Equity Blocked From Buying Stakes in Tennessee Law Firms

Tennessee’s Supreme Court declined to allow private equity and other investors to directly buy stakes in the state’s law firms, while signaling openness to other regulatory changes related to the practice of law.

The court in an Oct. 2 order said it will not change the state’s ban on non-lawyer ownership of law firms, maintaining widely observed US limitations on who can own and profit from legal services. The decision is a contrast to the minority of US states where law firms owned by non-lawyer investors, such as Arizona’s alternative business structures (ABSs), have their Supreme Courts’ blessing. READ MORE