The American Bar Association (ABA) delayed making a decision about whether to toughen up rules on multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs) at its half-yearly meeting last week (5 February).

Meeting in Philadelphia, the ABA elected not to discuss its position on MDPs – despite intense interest in the issue following the collapse of Enron and a campaign by the New York State Bar to toughen up regulations restricting the cross-selling of legal services.