Law Firms, Regulators Keep Eye on Big Four Move to Legal Services

By Steve Burkholder, Bloomberg BNA

The Big Four accounting firms’ moves into legal consulting services are capturing the attention of law firms wary of stronger competition and U.S. regulators keen to prevent such services from violating auditor independence rules.

The announcement last month that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP launched its own branded law firm, ILC Legal LLP, has focused attention on the newer, bulked-up players, according to Bloomberg Tax interviews with attorneys, accountants, and corporate consultants.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it is monitoring the accounting firms’ expansion into legal services to ensure it doesn’t compromise the independent audits of ...