In case you missed it, two weeks ago there was argument at the Second Circuit on the dismissal in New York of the Jacoby & Meyers suit. Jacoby & Meyers is a New York firm (with offices in Connecticut and New Jersey) that sued a variety of state officials in all three states where they operate over the prohibition in their lawyers’ ethics rules on non-lawyer stock ownership. From what I read, its lawsuit may see new life.
J&M wants to incorporate itself as a stock corporation and offer shares to private or public non-lawyer investors. In the business world it is called “going to the market” or financing business with equity. It is prohibited in every jurisdiction except one, though it is all the rage in other common-law countries such as England and Australia. .
