Navigating Law Firm MSO Transactions
Legal Services Transactions Team Co-Leaders Trisha Rich and Joshua Porte participated in a Q&A with Lockton Transaction Liability Senior Vice President Dan Hoppe about the law firm management service organization (MSO) market and how representations and warranties insurance (RWI) can mitigate financial risks and support productive transactional relationships. They open by breaking down the composition of Holland & Knight's Legal Services Transactions Team, which combines corporate and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyers and legal ethics and professional responsibility attorneys to provide counsel throughout the entire MSO deal life cycle. They then identify two main shifts in the sector – third-party investor ownership of some or all of an MSO structure and the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) – as well as describe the Rules of Professional Conduct that form the regulatory foundation for MSO transactions in the legal industry. The conversation next pivots to RWI: law firm-specific risk management processes, different types of indemnities and insurers' comfort with the MSO risk profile. The interview concludes with steps to take if a firm is interested in entering the MSO space and where the market could go in 2027 and beyond as more practices outside personal injury step into this arena and more bar committees issue ethics opinions offering regulatory guidance.