Adams and Reese Partner Lucian Pera, a leading professional responsibility and ethics law attorney, had his article “The Madness of the Lawyer Fee-Sharing Ban” published in the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Magazine.
Pera discusses that it is time to rethink the long-standing notion that the ban in fee-sharing with nonlawyers protects lawyer professional independence in some important way. The ban on fee-sharing has been lifted in Arizona but remains in place elsewhere. Arizona’s move prompts a reconsideration of traditional regulatory norms and may signal a broader shift in legal practice.
“In the wake of Arizona’s repeal of its fee-sharing ban, and the vast number of lawyers and other innovators trying new things to reach legal services consumers, it’s time for us all to re-think some of our traditional notions about lawyer regulation, in a fresh light,” writes Pera. “And it might well be time to cast aside our long-standing ban on fee-sharing with nonlawyers.”
Pera, a Partner in the Adams and Reese Memphis office, practices primarily in legal ethics, media law, and commercial litigation. He represents lawyers, law firms, and others on issues of legal ethics and lawyer professional responsibility.
A graduate of Princeton University and Vanderbilt University School of Law, Pera was a member of the ABA “Ethics 2000” Commission, which rewrote the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. He chaired the Tennessee Bar Association committee whose work led to the adoption of significantly revised Tennessee ethics rules patterned after the Model Rules. He has chaired the editorial board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct and served as President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. He served as chair of the governing board of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility.
The ABA Center for Professional Responsibility bestowed on him the prestigious Michael Franck Award, their highest award for work in the field of ethics and professional responsibility over his career. Pera is a past Treasurer of the ABA and a past President of the Tennessee Bar Association. He currently serves as a member of the ABA Board of Governors representing the Section of Business Law.