Accountants, he said, have much closer ongoing relationships with clients than lawyers do. They' d could provide the services that the client really needs through the year before it becomes a problem. Suggesting that some law firms do provide on ongoing advisory role to their clients, Laredo said that the bigger issue surrounding multi-professional operations is one of ethics. He questioned how a professional enterprise of lawyers and accountants would work out such differences as disclosure of client information. You're my partner in that organization.
Lawyers have no obligation to the public.
We have an obligation to our clients, an obligation of independence, confidentiality, loyalty, zealous arguments on their behalf, et cetera. And we have an obligation to our ethical rules to make certain that everything is operating in a proper way. But it's the client, with the attorney-client privilege, who control what we do. Not the public. That's the real rub in trying to get the two professions to work together.