Technology. 23 and You

• Author: Richard Acello
• Pages: 22-24

TECHNOLOGY

23 and You

The new frontier of health care is

here, but will DNA privacy be lost?

BY RICHARD ACELLO

In February, 23andMe, a compa-

ny best known for its genealogy

testing kits, announced plans to

go public through a novel merger

funding mechanism called a SPAC, or

special purpose acquisition corp.

The merger is with VG Acquisition

Corp., a Richard Branson-backed

company, and Branson is pouring $25

million into the merger, as is 23andMe

co-founder Anne Wojcicki. Once

the merger is complete, the merged

23andMe is expected to have an esti-

mated valuation of around $3.5 billion.

At that point, 23andMe will be well-

equipped to venture beyond genealogy

kits and into the new frontier of per-

sonalized health care, using a patient’s

DNA as the basis for therapeutics or

preventive medicine. It won’t be alone.

In December, rival Ancestry.com was

acquired in a $4.7 billion deal by pri-

vate equity  rm Blackstone Group Inc.

Ancestry CEO Margo Georgiadis said

in a press release that the deal would

allow the company to bring to life “our

long-term vision of personalized pre-

ventive health.”

Advocates are concerned about the

privacy of data collected by genetic test-

ing companies; what control consumers

have over their DNA data once it’s

been submitted to 23andMe and other

genetic testing  rms; and what recourse

consumers have if companies’ assuranc-

es of privacy prove unreliable.

“Data is the new oil,” says Catherine

Arcabascio, a professor at Nova South-

eastern University’s Shepard Broad Col-

lege of Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I don’t know of any other information

that one would hold so dear as their

genetic code.”

Big Pharma wants to get its hands

on some of this data. GlaxoSmithKline

took a $300 million equity stake in

23andMe in 2018 to “focus on research

and development of innovative new

medicines and potential cures, using hu-

man genetics as the basis for discovery.”

“The question is one of consent,

and the problem is consumers are not

likely reading every detail of the terms

of service,” Arcabascio says. “They’re

treating DNA the same as a toaster

oven. You have the terms of service, and

you’re just clicking through.” She says it

is dif cult to ascertain what the privacy

Business of Law | TECHNOLOGY

access now to a CFO they may not have

been able to afford in the past. Several

agencies provide virtual CFOs who can

work for several  rms simultaneously.

Through a virtual CFO agency, Dolan’s

 rm was able to afford a  nancial

strategist, whom he says the  rm would

have never otherwise been able to af-

ford to hire full time.

Before hiring anyone, law  rms

should consider their cash  ow rather

than the number of attorneys they have,

suggests Keoki Wallace, the CEO of

business consultancy It’s More Than

Just Numbers. If most of the law  rm’s

business comes from  at fees or from

standard monthly billings that are paid

within a speci ed amount of time,

then all they need is a good controller,

Wallace says. Where a CFO could make

a difference is when there are large

discrepancies between months or when

cases go over an extended period, such

as when there is an upfront payment

and then no next payment until many

months or even years later.

“I have had many talented control-

lers work for me over the years who

could easily do everything even a large

law  rm with stable cash  ow needs,”

Wallace says.

Before selecting a  nance profes-

sional, Reilly advises looking for

someone who can go beyond debits

and credits. Reilly says the CFO chosen

needs to be an entrepreneur: He or she

should understand the business, com-

prehend how clients are acquired, how

clients are serviced and how revenue is

generated (which requires some under-

standing of the law). Other soft skills

are important, such as the ability to

communicate with peers and partners

and  t in with the overall dynamic of

the  rm, Reilly says.

If you don’t have a CFO, expect to

dedicate a signi cant amount of time to

dealing with your  rm’s  nances, says

David Sanders, who owns his Houston-

based solo  rm but says he doesn’t have

the luxury of hiring a CFO. Sanders

blocks off the majority of the day once

a week to manage his  nancial affairs.

He estimates this accounts for about 25

hours per month. Time well spent? QContinued on page 24

Illustration by Sara Wadford/ABA Journal

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