Schulte partner Boris Ziser was a featured guest on Bloomberg's Wall Street Week, where he discussed the growing intersection between private equity and the legal industry. Boris explored how outside investment — already seen in litigation finance — is poised to reshape Big Law more broadly.
Pointing to the expanding need for third-party funding, Boris described how litigation is often too expensive and time-consuming for both individuals and law firms. Determining whether a case is worth pursuing demands a significant upfront investment, creating a financial strain — particularly for firms managing multiple contingency cases at once. "It's the need for capital, given how expensive it is to litigate, that has created this need for outside investment," he explained.
Boris also spoke to recent regulatory changes in states like Arizona and Utah, which have introduced Alternative Business Structures (ABS)— a model established in the UK but relatively new to the US legal landscape. These structures allow law firms to incorporate non-lawyer ownership and investment, provided they obtain a specialized license through a rigorous vetting process overseen by the state Supreme Court. Boris emphasized the importance of separating legal expertise from operational strategy, noting the value non-lawyer professionals can bring to the business side of law firms, "There is a real difference between the practice of law and the business of law and having somebody who's not a lawyer, who has the financial acumen to help a law firm be more efficient, more profitable, function more smoothly, take advantage of the technological advancements, whether it's AI or any other technological advancements, only inures to the benefit of the clients," he stated.
Watch a clip here.
Full segment can be viewed here.
Originally published by Bloomberg.
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