Accounting
KPMG US aims to become a law firm too
KPMG US has set up a subsidiary that has filed an application in Arizona to establish a law firm in the state, with hopes of going national.
The subsidiary of the New York-based Big Four firm, known as KPMG Law US, filed an application with the Arizona Supreme Court to establish KPMG Law US as an “alternative business structure.” KPMG Law US will provide a set of integrated business solutions for legal teams, adding to the global capabilities of KPMG Law.
KPMG member firms around the world have been offering legal services for over a decade and are now in over 80 jurisdictions. In fiscal year 2024, the fastest-growing function across the KPMG global network was tax and legal services.
“KPMG Law US will be positioned to deliver innovative and quality services for legal teams, drawing on the KPMG network’s global experience as well as our technology capabilities and scale,” said a KPMG US spokesperson. “Legal teams navigate complex challenges with the support of traditional law firms. They also face substantial and wide-ranging process challenges that can benefit from legal expertise and technology at scale. We aim to solve those pain points, especially on tight timelines.This focused effort is a natural extension of our capabilities and will complement the services of traditional law firms.”
KPMG US already serves over 100 clients in Arizona, leveraging approximately 300 people across the firm’s audit, tax, advisory and business process group teams. Its presence has grown 35% since 2020 and supports the growth of the Arizona economy.
KPMG would be the first Big Four firm in the U.S. to operate a law firm, according to the
“We have been studying Arizona’s structure for years, and we’re excited by the possibility that it presents to us,” said KPMG Tax principal Tom Greenaway, the designated principal on the application, during a January 14 court hearing. “We think the time is right now for us, given the advances that we have made in technology and the maturity of this market. We really think that we can bring innovation and a complete set of integrated legal solutions to our clients and to other clients here in Arizona.”
The firm aims to grow the law firm beyond Arizona once it has received approval from the state supreme court and expand to other parts of the country by leveraging Arizona’s laws and its alternative business structure,
“As an Arizona ABS, KPMG Law US would be able to practice law in the United States, subject to legal rules in its various jurisdictions, which is something that no Big Four network firm can currently do,” said the spokesperson. “Pending approval, this innovation would differentiate KPMG Law US both in the legal and the consulting markets. KPMG Law US would be able to bring legal capabilities to managed services, such as contract lifecycle management, among others.”
Partnering with firms in other states, KPMG Law US plans to serve clients nationally, including in Arizona. It has established relationships with law firms to support its legal teams. KPMG Law US intends to operate within each state’s ethics rules just like every other law firm. It will be able to co-counsel, refer or partner with separate staffing firms and other law firms, to expand services across jurisdictions, subject in all cases to legal and ethics rules in its various jurisdictions. KPMG pointed out that other ABS law firms operate this way and the model is also consistent with common practice among law firms. For decades, it noted, U.S. law firms, both small and large, have used co-counsel arrangements and staffing companies to provide coverage for their work across different jurisdictions.
“In order to do this job effectively, I need to be embedded within and working shoulder to shoulder proactively with the business,” said KPMG principal David Rizzo, a compliance lawyer for the ABS application, during the court hearing. “We are committed to running a tight ship and to standing on the right side of the law in Arizona, and in all other jurisdictions, backed by the support and resources of KPMG LLP.”
The firm plans to abide by all of the ethics rules surrounding such arrangements. “We will strive to set the bar for quality and ethics in legal services,” said the spokesperson. “KPMG Law US will be governed by the same high ethical standards that apply to other law firms and will build on our long-standing commitment to quality, ethics, independence and compliance with professional standards. We look forward to enhancing our multidisciplinary model and driving further innovation in the professional services industry, pending approval.”
KPMG Law US plans to offer legal managed services, global entity management, outbound legal project management support, and legal transformation solutions to legal teams. KPMG Law US will mainly deliver large-scale, process-driven work, such as volume contracting, remediation exercises, M&A-driven harmonization of contracts, and other legal managed services, leveraging its technology. KPMG has a cloud-based and generative AI-enabled Digital Gateway platform that serves as a “control tower” for a company’s set of tax and legal data, providing advanced analytics and reporting capabilities.
“Technology and process are something that we’re really good at,” said Greenaway at the hearing. “We’ve spent a decade or more investing massive sums of money in building our technology platform and solutions. Our firm has a proprietary Digital Gateway platform that we are going to deploy across these business law problems that emerge. We think we can provide a more efficient set of solutions than a lot of existing providers.”
Carr, Riggs & Ingram, a Top 25 Firm based in Enterprise, Alabama, has added CapinCrouse, a Regional Leader based in Indianapolis, effective Jan. 17, 2025.
The deal is CRI’s biggest merger in its history, and the first since it
CapinCrouse focuses on exclusively serving nonprofits, such as faith-based organizations and private colleges. The merger will add 40 partners, 185 professionals and 15 offices to CRI, which has 437 partners and 2,304 staff
After the outside investment, CRI split its attest and non-attest practices, as is common when accounting firms receive private equity or venture capital funding. Carr, Riggs & Ingram, L.L.C., as an independent licensed CPA firm, is providing assurance, attest and audit services. CRI Advisors, LLC (including its subsidiary entities) operates as a separate legal entity, providing clients with tax and business consulting services.
“This merger represents an exciting milestone in our firm’s history and a significant advancement for both CRI and CapinCrouse,” said CRI Advisors LLC chairman Bill Carr in a statement Tuesday. “We have previously invested in firms that specialize in serving faith-based organizations and private colleges. With the addition of CapinCrouse, CRI is now positioned to become the leading national provider in these vital markets. By combining our strengths, we will enhance the value we offer and greatly expand our national geographical presence. We are proud to welcome CapinCrouse to the CRI family.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. CRI ranked No. 24 on Accounting Today‘s 2024 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $455.36 million in annual revenue. CapinCrouse ranked No. 27 on Accounting Today‘s Regional Leaders list of the Top Firms in the Great Lakes region, with $35.51 million in annual revenue.
“We are very pleased to join CRI,” said Fran Brown, Managing Partner of CapinCrouse. “For over 50 years, our focus has been on providing innovative service to nonprofit organizations whose outcomes are measured in lives changed. CRI’s commitment to client service, respect, and integrity is an excellent fit with our mission and firm culture. We will continue to operate under the CapinCrouse brand and are excited to now have access to more offerings and resources to further drive exceptional client service.”
Koltin Consulting Group CEO Allan Koltin advised both firms on the merger. “It is interesting to note that this is CRI’s biggest M&A deal in its history, and it comes on the heels of their private equity deal with Centerbridge Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners,” he said in a statement. “CapinCrouse, a top 125 firm nationally, is viewed by many as the preeminent firm in the country when it comes to the audit and related advisory services of nonprofits and religious organizations. My intuition suggests that going forward, we will see CRI expanding its geographic reach nationally by combining with more top 200 firms.”
Last August, CRI added
In 2022, CapinCrouse acquired the
President Donald Trump named Mark Uyeda, a Republican member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as acting chairman of the SEC, while confirmation hearings await for Trump’s official pick as chairman, Paul Atkins.
Uyeda has been an SEC commissioner since 2022 and a member of the staff since 2006. Last month, he
“I am honored to serve in this capacity after serving as a Commissioner since 2022, and a member of the staff since 2006,” Uyeda said in a statement Monday. “I have great respect for the knowledge, expertise and experience of the agency and its people. The SEC has a vital mission—protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation—that plays a key role in promoting innovation, jobs creation, and the American Dream.”
Last month, Trump
As acting chairman, Uyeda announced Monday that he would be launching a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. The task force will be led by another Republican commissioner, Hester Peirce.
The task force plans to collaborate with SEC staff and the public to set the SEC on a regulatory path as opposed to pursuing enforcement actions to regulate crypto “retroactively and reactively,” according to a
“This undertaking will take time, patience and much hard work,” Peirce said in a statement. “It will succeed only if the Task Force has input from a wide range of investors, industry participants, academics and other interested parties. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with the public to foster a regulatory environment that protects investors, facilitates capital formation, fosters market integrity, and supports innovation.”
The task force plans to hold roundtables in the future, but in the meantime is asking for public input at [email protected].
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