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84 Minn. L. Rev. 1529 (1999-2000)
Multidisciplinary Practices: Prohibit or Regulate

handle is hein.journals/mnlr84 and id is 1539 raw text is: Multidisciplinary Practices: Prohibit or Regulate? Robert A. Steint The formation of a multidisciplinary practice, or MDP, is a phenomenon that has arrived with great suddenness. At a re- cent program on the subject, fewer than 10% of the attorneys in attendance had heard of MDPs more than a year ago.' The po- sition to be taken by the organized bar towards MDPs is one of the most important issues facing the legal profession in the United States and throughout the world. Whatever position the bar takes on MDPs, it will have an impact on the practice of law for many years to come. It is sure to influence not only how we practice law, but also how we define ourselves as lawyers and how the public perceives us. This is an issue whose effect is not limited to only one seg- ment of the bar. It is not a large firm issue or a small firm is- sue or a specialty issue. The decision to prohibit or regulate MDPs will affect virtually all practicing lawyers, no matter what their practice situation. In addition, the resolution of the MDP issue involves many of the fundamental core values of the legal profession that are not re-examined on a regular basis. I. INTRODUCTION TO MDPS Perhaps the best place to begin is to identify what are MDPs. In its simplest form, an MDP is a lawyer or lawyers having nonlawyer partners in a firm or other professional en- tity that provides legal and nonlegal services. The firm may be controlled by lawyers or nonlawyers. Furthermore, an MDP t Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, American Bar Asso- ciation (ABA). I wish to thank Macarena Tamayo Calabrese for her out- standing assistance in the preparation of this Article. The Article is an adap- tation of an address by the author at the University of Minnesota Law School Homecoming CLE Seminar, October 30, 1999. The views expressed in this Ar- ticle are those of the author and do not express ABA policy unless so indicated. 1. Informal poll of attorneys in attendance at the University of Minne- sota Law School Homecoming CLE Seminar, in Minneapolis, MN (Oct. 30, 1999). 1529

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