Small businesses are a powerful force in today's economy both nationally and globally.
The challenges in starting and maintaining a successful small business are enormous. As consumers of professional services, we need accessible, cost-effective providers to help us develop comprehensive solutions. We believe that multidisciplinary partnerships offer the possibility to enhance competition among lawyers and other professionals, and competition brings better quality of service and reduced costs. We therefore urge the Commission to recommend revisions to the ethics rules of the legal profession to permit these relationships. Small businesses range from home based businesses with 1 or 2 employees to 400 member high-tech firms.