IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
4 Oct - 9 Oct 2026
Session information
Show me the money: how private equity is reshaping law firms through management service organisations
Monday 5 October (1115 - 1230)
Committee(s)
Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee
(Lead)
Capital Markets Forum
Description
How do law firms fund innovation when traditional partnership models weren't built for it? As legal services evolve in North America and England, this question has become urgent. Arizona, Utah and Puerto Rico have broken new ground by allowing limited non-lawyer ownership, but private equity hasn't waited for regulatory permission everywhere. Instead, investors are finding creative workarounds through management service organisations (MSOs). This session will examine how prevalent these structures have become, where regulators are drawing the line, and what it all means for US firms navigating a patchwork of global regulations.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Professor Paul Paton KC | Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Orange, California, USA; Co-Chair, Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee |
Speakers
| Christina Blacklaws | The Law Society of England and Wales, London, England; Co-Chair, Bar Issues Commission Policy Committee |
| Marcus Möller | Krogerus, Helsinki, Finland |
| Daniel Sipple-Asher | Strategy&, Washington, District of Columbia, USA |