The Business of Law – Marketing and Business for Enterprising Attorneys

Alright I’ll admit it, I’m the last person who normally cheers for uniformity, in fact one of the things I love about my job at Sokolove Law is that we’re constantly breaking from the pack, and thinking outside the box.

That said when it comes to the business of law, I think uniformity can be a good thing.

As everyone knows, the practice of law is governed by individual state laws in 50 different states, in fact, the rules can vary quite a bit, up to and including what it takes to actually become a lawyer.  For example in some states you have to take their bar exam to become a member of the bar in that state, while in others (most notably the District of Columbia) you can opt in to the bar, provided that you’ve passed the exam in any other state.

So if you were born in Massachusetts and went to law school in Massachusetts, and took the bar in Massachusetts, then you moved to another state, you might have to take the bar in that state, depending on how long you had been practicing law (again the rules vary).

Some folks are trying to change that.  Law.com had an article yesterday talking about the effort to adopt a “uniform” bar exam that would try to create a system that would allow for people to take one exam that would demonstrate their ability to practice law in different states.

To be sure there are arguments on both sides of the issue, and the article does a nice job of laying them both out.  What’s intriguing to me is the idea, generally, of streamlining the regulatory process to foster more access to the legal system.

Sure, some laws are different in different states, and it is important that attorneys know the quirks of state law, but does it make sense that there are 50 different codes of professional conduct, 50 different sets of rules with respect to legal advertising, 50 different sets of rules about referral fees and other procedural issues.

I’m not an attorney, but I do seem to remember the constitutional concept that interstate commerce is governed by federal law, exactly because it eliminates the risk of different states passing laws that are parochial, or otherwise frustrate the free flow of economic activity.

With that principle in mind, wouldn’t a little bit of uniformity with respect to our legal rules mean that legal advice and representation would be more readily available?  Wouldn’t a little uniformity mean greater competition in the legal market, with the best and brightest rising to the top?

Let me be on record firmly in favor of competition and greater access…at Sokolove Law, it’s worked for us so far.