California is in the middle of a dramatic and fundamental review of how lawyers, and much more broadly legal services generally, should be regulated. In this article we will describe the remarkable State Bar Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services Report (the “report”) which is the centerpiece of the project, and consider its broad implications for the profession generally, and for New York in particular.

In examining and considering the report, it is of fundamental importance for readers to keep a critical question constantly in mind: whose interests are the Rules of Professional Conduct primarily intended to protect: clients or lawyers? If the answer seems obvious (presumably, clients), then, as we review the report, the need for comprehensive reform of the regulatory structure for the profession will become apparent. But those who prefer the status quo at all costs argue that regulation for the benefit of the profession should continue to prevail above all other considerations.