Adopting Law Firm Management Systems to Survive and Thrive: A Study of the Australian Approach to Management-Based Regulation
![handle is hein.journals/usthomlj10 and id is 152 raw text is: ARTICLE
ADOPTING LAW FIRM MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE:
A STUDY OF THE AUSTRALIAN APPROACH
TO MANAGEMENT-BASED REGULATION
SUSAN FORTNEY*
TAHLIA GORDON**
INTRODUCTION
In 2006, the legal profession in Australia captured attention worldwide
when Slater & Gordon, an Australian incorporated legal practice (ILP),
became the first law firm to publicly sell shares on a stock exchange.'
Amendments to the New South Wales Legal Profession Act of 2004 (the
Act) made this listing possible by permitting non-lawyers to own ILP
stock without restriction.2 This portion of the new law was controversial,
sparking debate around the world.'
* Howard Lichtenstein Distinguished Professor of Legal Ethics, Maurice A. Deane School
of Law at Hofstra University. I thank the University of St. Thomas Law Journal and Professor
Neil Hamilton for inviting me to participate in the symposium on empirical legal research relating
to the legal profession. Thanks to Steve Mark and Tahlia Gordon for inspiring the study relating to
management-based regulation of law firms. I deeply appreciate the time and effort of the Austra-
lian attorneys who participated in the study. I also thank Professors Christine Parker, Leslie Levin,
and Maxine Evers for their feedback. Special thanks goes to Esther Bowe, Charles Dill, Catherine
Fisher, and Elliot Kaminetzky for their assistance in administering and analyzing the survey.
** Research and Projects Manager, Office of Legal Services Commissioner, New South
Wales, Australia.
1. For insights into Slater & Gordon's decision to list, as well as regulatory challenges, see
generally Andrew Grech & Kirsten Morrison, Slater & Gordon: The Listing Experience, 22 Gro.
J. LEGAL ETHics 535 (2009) (providing a case study from the perspective of two firm leaders at
Slater & Gordon).
2. Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) s 135 (Austl.), available at http://www.austlii.edu.aul
au/legis/nsw/consol-act/lpa2004179/ [hereinafter the Act].
3. Following the Slater & Gordon listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, numerous com-
mentators debated whether law firms in the United States and U.K. should be allowed to follow
Australia and publicly raise capital through the sale of law firm stock. See, e.g., Chandler N.
Hodge, Comment, Law Firns in the U.S.: To Go Public or Not to Go Public?, 34 U. DAY rON L.
Rrv. 79 (2008); Lindsay Fortado, Slater & Gordon Lifts Curtain on Global Law Firms Going
Public, BiOOMBERG, June 12, 2007, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/newspid=newsarchive&
sid=aa5QVuS4ICbk&refer=news (quoting attorneys with different perspectives on the likelihood
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Adopting Law Firm Management Systems to Survive and Thrive: A Study of the Australian Approach to Management-Based Regulation
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