ABSTRACT
On 21 May 2007, the incorporated law firm Slater and Gordon listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with a fully subscribed offer of $35 million dollars worth of A$1 shares – the first law firm in the world to go public.2 Slater and Gordon was able to do this because Australia is the first place in the world where legal practices are allowed to incorporate under the ordinary corporations law without restriction on the members of the firm or the business of the firm. Other common law jurisdictions, including Canada, New Zealand and the United States, currently allow only limited liability partnerships or very restricted forms of incorporation, not the full, unrestricted incorporation allowed now in Australia.3 Soon, full incorporation – and consequently public listing – of legal practices will also be permitted in the United Kingdom when ‘alternative business structures’ for legal practice are allowed.4 Other jurisdictions may follow Australia and the United Kingdom.5
