PHOENIX (AP) — Before this month, Mike Payne was constantly switching among his many hats _ legal, accounting, business consulting.
But now that his accounting firm has been approved by the Arizona Supreme Court as one of the first alternative business structures in the state, that is in the process of changing.
The state Supreme Court in August 2020 approved eliminating an ethics rule that prohibits non-lawyers from fee sharing and from having economic interests in law firms.
The rule change took effect January 1. While other states, such as Utah and California, have toyed with allowing some alternative business structures in some form, Arizona is the first to get rid of the rule entirely.
