Like the conflicts issues lawyers have dealt with for years, the MDP simply creates issues which add some complexity of the kind for which lawyers have crafted solutions for decades. If we want to find solutions, we can. Part of the solutions may require us to educate accountants and other professionals about our professional obligations and the need for MDPs to preserve those rules. Lawyer independent judgment has been subject to pressure for years. Law firms today are more profit-driven than ever before.
Lawyers are subject to quick reductions in compensation when billings are down.
The economic pressure that might be placed on a lawyer in a MDP is no different. In both cases, the lawyer is under pressure to act in a way that helps the bottom line. Lawyer independence is a function of the strength of her character, not of the nature of the organization in which she works. In the final analysis, MDPs will enable litigators to better serve clients and compete for business more effectively. We should embrace the movement, not fight it, and we should take the lead in crafting rules for MDPs that will protect the core values of the legal profession.