2023-05-04 10:11:45
Office location Frankfurt: If the ban on third-party ownership topples, lawyers could plan with larger budgets.
Image: AP
A core value of the legal profession will be put to the test in the coming year before the European Court of Justice. Can investors then buy law firms?
In December 2021, the SPD, Greens and FDP declare on page 89 of their coalition agreement that they want to strengthen the legal profession by modifying the ban on contingency fees and wanting to “examine the ban on third-party ownership”. In the run-up to the largest professional law reform in decades, this sentence was read with great attention by the traditionalists as well as the innovation drivers in the German legal market. Would the legislature touch the ban on outside capital in law firms and thus allow third parties to participate?
Daniel Halmer, lawyer and founder of the consumer rights platform Conny.Legal, reports that there are restrictions on the shareholder structures of law firms in many European countries, which would prove to be a brake. “Innovation means digitization and automation, and that costs money.” This is always associated with a high level of risk, which traditional lenders do not want to take responsibility for, emphasizes the Legaltech entrepreneur.
#investors #buy #law #firms