Take legal action: post-Enron firms address client concerns.

• Author: Becker, John
• Position: Focus - Multiple Disciplinary Practice model, Utah - Brief Article

During the past two years, there has been a above underway in Utah, and nationally, to permit lawyers to join with other professionals to provide a myriad of services to their clients. The Multiple Disciplinary Practice (MDP) model would provide clients with legal, accounting, planning, communication and any number of other professional services in one convenient setting, under one management and billed on one invoice. Current rules do act allow lawyers and non-lawyers to share fees in this manner. Just as MDP was approaching the Utah Supreme Court for approval, which would have made Utah the first state in the nation to adopt MDP, Enron was approaching collapse.

Utah State Bar President John Adams reflects, "Clearly, one of the things that has happened since Enron is the denial by the Utah Supreme Court of MDP. I think they may have denied the proposal because they want to see other states' experience, but Enron brought up many questions."

"No doubt Enron slowed down the MDP process, but it also helped us to focus on the audit issue, and it will ultimately improve MDP," says Michael Blackburn, a managing member of Blackburn and Stoll and also a certified public accountant. Blackburn served on the MDP Task Force and is a former president of the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants. He says there are already many accountants and attorneys operating in a unified structure absolutely within the canons of ethics. "The difference in an MDP is when CPAs and attorneys are in the same firm under the same ownership/management structure," Blackburn says.

Blackburn and Adams agree that if MDP becomes a reality, lawyers' core value -- rendering independent judgement -- must be preserved.

Although Utah businesses won't see their law firm managing, offering and billing other professional services for some time, they may see a faster response to their legal needs. For example, Snell & Wilmer launched SWAT, the Snell & Wilmer Action Team, to deal with today's volatile business environment highlighted by the Enron collapse.

"Enron is presenting boards of directors, shareholders and business owners with a new business environment that requires an efficient, calculated response to limit risk and minimize financial impact," says Brian Cunningham, a partner with Snell & Wilmer and Salt Lake City SWAT team member. "Many of us have been contacted by those with concerns about recent events, which may impact their businesses. Although few of our clients...