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Lawyers, presently prohibited from sharing fees or management with other professionals, may soon be able to form professionally diverse partnerships. Affiliations of diverse
professionals are referred to as “Multidisciplinary Practice.” While the ABA and several large eastern states have rejected the concept of MDP, three western states are moving forward to
allow MDPs. Many other states, including Utah, are still in the decision-making process. Utah's Task Force has just released its Preliminary Final Report on Multidisciplinary Practice.
Your views are needed before the report will be final.
This article serves as an introduction to the MDP issue and gives background so that you can become current on the issues and contribute to the debate.
What could an MDP do?
There are many services which MDPs can render. The diversity is limited only by imagination. Engineers, lawyers and land planners can combine to provide development services.
Family and marital counselors can join to serve the needs of forming, troubled and dissolving families. Accountants, management specialists and lawyers can advise and counsel business
clients. Insurance agents and lawyers can serve a variety of needs including estate and business planning.
Why is MDP controversial?
The principal controversy of MDPs consists in the necessary changes to Rules of Professional Conduct, and implications for other professional standards. Rule 5.4 presently
prohibits fee sharing by lawyers, which is present in a partnership of professionals. The rule also requires that a lawyer have independence of judgment, which could be impaired if
management decisions of the entity (including non-lawyers) affect legal decision-making. A lawyer's duty of confidentiality could be impaired if confidential information is available
throughout the MDP. The difficulty of managing conflicts of interest in a multi-professional environment worries many who oppose MDPs. Non-lawyers in an MDP may drift into the
unauthorized practice of law. In sum, the controversy is over possible erosion of client protection and maintenance of the distinct characteristics of the profession.
What has Utah's Task Force done to study MDP?
Charles R. Brown, immediate past president of the Utah State Bar, chartered Utah's MDP Task Force in late summer 1999. The attorneys and CPAs who made up the Task Force came
to the table with widely varying views on the advisability of MDPs. However, over the course of a dozen meetings, study assignments, and research, the Task Force has come together in a
Preliminary Final Report.
What is Utah's MDP Task Force recommending?
The unanimous recommendation of Utah's MDP Task Force is to alter the Rules of Professional Conduct to permit MDPs, while maintaining traditional client protections. See the
Preliminary Final Report at http://www.utahbar.org/sites/mdp/report. The Task Force concluded that MDPs are happening around us and will happen without Bar permission. Other professionals
(including unlicensed law school graduates) will render services and will compete with lawyers. The present rules governing lawyers prohibit lawyer entry into this new opportunity and
prevent broader ranges of service, while other professions are under no such restraints. Prohibiting lawyers from entry into this new area is counter to the public interest and contrary
to the interests of lawyers. While the Task Force recognizes that new MDP circumstances will require new procedures, the Task Force feels that these uncertainties do not overcome the
compelling reasons to permit MDPs.
What happens next?
The Bar Commission will next consider comments from lawyers and the public and adopt a Final Report. If the Final Report recommends changes in Utah's Rules of Professional
Conduct, a petition will be directed to the Utah Supreme Court.
Where can I learn more about MDPs?
A first stop in learning about MDPs is the Utah Bar MDP Task Force site. Read the Preliminary Final Report (http://www.utahbar.org/sites/mdp/report) and review the minutes of
Task Force Meetings. Look at the various web sites linked from the Utah site, including the ABA and other state reports. A particularly sharp dialogue developed in Florida and was
featured in a recent edition of the Florida Bar Journal.
Where can I send my comments?
The Bar Commission needs comments from attorneys and the public. The Preliminary Final Report will only become final after these comments are received and assimilated.
Comments can be faxed to MDP c/o 801-531-0660; e-mailed to MDP@utahbar.org, or mailed to MDP c/o Utah State Bar, 645 South 200 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.
Is there more than MDP at stake here?
The MDP issue is really a bellwether on the adaptability of the profession. Some hold that the profession must not change and that change will destroy it; others believe that
change in the profession is essential to preserve the role of law in American life. MDP is a focal point of these divergent views. The same debate about change will take place as
paraprofessional licensing, pro se facilitation, and other specific issues are considered.
Conclusion:
The Bar is about to take a definitive step on the MDP issue. Membership input is essential. For the sake of the practice and the profession, we each need to contribute to
this debate.
Further Information:
Utah Materials:
Utah State Bar MDP Task Force Final Preliminary Report:
http://www.utahbar.org/sites/mdp/html/mdp_task_force_report.html
Utah State Bar MDP Task Force:http://www.utahbar.org/sites/mdp/
ABA Materials:
ABA MDP Commission: http://www.abanet.org/cpr/multicom.html
Status of State MDP Activity: http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mdpstats.html
Best General Background Document: http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mdpappendixc.html
The MDP Debate:
Florida Con Report:
http://www.flabar.org/newflabar/publicmediainfo/TFBJournal/mar00-2.html
Florida Pro Report:
http://www.flabar.org/newflabar/publicmediainfo/TFBJournal/mar00-1.html
Nevada Bar Journal : Will Attorneys Vote Themselves Out of the Competition?
http://www.nvbar.org/publications/nvlawyer/NVL07-00/Vote.html
Western State Actions:
Arizona MDP Recommendations:
http://www.azbar.org/AttorneyResources/mdp_recommends.cfm
Colorado MDP Recommendations:
http://www.cobar.org/mdp/report3.htm
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