A significant number of clients prefer to receive legal advice and counsel from lawyers practicing in multidisciplinary practice organizations. Lawyers should be permitted to practice law in entities at least partially owned by nonlawyers. The rich get richer, the poor poorer on both sides of equation. Practice of law distributed by larger and larger MDP firms eliminate smaller efficient operation. Asking these question of lawyers only will not give the best view of what should be done.
Layers are very protective and resist change regardless of merit.
Lawyer control over the MDP entity is the only practical means to prevent economic conflicts from overwhelming lawyers' ethical obligations. Lawyers' core values of independence, loyalty, confidentiality, and professionalism are essential only in the litigation context. Multidisciplinary practice endangers the attorney-client confidentiality relationship. It should be vigorously resisted. Passive investment by nonlawyers in MDP entities should be prohibited.