Home > Journals > St. John's Law Review > Vol. 88 > No. 4
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Article
Abstract
(Excerpt)
Looking ahead, Part II of this Article provides a general overview of the verein model and its governing charter. Part III highlights a variety of ethical considerations for lawyers in verein member firms that are subject to ethics rules based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. These include lawyers' obligation to communicate to clients the relationships between the verein and its member firms, the imputation of conflicts of interest between member firms, and fee-splitting among member firms. Part IV discusses previous efforts to hold vereins and their member firms vicariously liable for the misconduct of another member firm. These cases have involved global accounting firms structured as vereins; vicarious liability among verein member law firms has yet to be tested. Part IV also examines whether the reported push by law firms organized as vereins toward full global integration among their members may perhaps lay the groundwork for collective liability.