Legal

Andy Kvesic is the CEO and managing partner of Radix Law, the first multi-lawyer traditional law firm in the country to be approved as an Alternative Business Structure. Kvesic is a former prosecutor and commercial litigator who now serves as outside general counsel to public agencies and private businesses. radixlaw.com

Firm Ownership Now Open to Non-Lawyers

Arizona opens a new era for law firms

by Andy Kvesic

The Arizona Supreme Court last year enacted sweeping rules that revolutionize the practice of law in Arizona. While the general rule across the United States was that only lawyers could own and share profits in law firms, Arizona took a bold approach in turning that rule on its head, now allowing nonlawyers to own, profit from and participate in the management of law firms. This new business model is otherwise known as an Alternative Business Structure, or ABS.

What does this mean for the legal industry? It doesn’t change who can practice law in Arizona — one still has to be a licensed attorney in Arizona to provide legal services here. But for non-lawyer business owners, there are now endless opportunities to couple legal services with other professional services, and profit from each. A review of the approved ABS entities in Arizona confirms this concept is a driving factor. Estate planning attorneys have combined with wealth planners under one roof. Tax attorneys are now working side by side with accountants and sharing each other’s fees. Personal injury firms are teaming up with litigation finance companies to tap a new source of capital. Even traditional law firms with ABS licenses are exploring the addition of new professional services — such as real estate brokerage, private equity, and insurance — to complement their existing practice groups.

Becoming an ABS is not easy and requires a lengthy application with extensive background checks on decision makers and anyone who owns more than 10%. The Arizona Supreme Court has appointed a committee of active and retired attorneys, along with private businesspeople, to review applicants and make their recommendations on whether an ABS should be approved. The Arizona Supreme Court makes the final decision on who gets a license.

Some “old school” lawyers are critical of this revolutionary new model, believing it will jeopardize client interests and put profits ahead of ethical responsibilities. But others, including the Arizona Supreme Court, view this as a needed change to improve the legal profession, modernize law firms and provide more access to justice. Law firms can now attract a new source of capital from non-lawyers and offer equity ownership in the law practice. Non-lawyer owners who are successful businesspeople can now provide their human capital to law firms and focus on operations, technology and scaling, while the lawyers focus on practicing law and serving their clients. Law firms have the ability to transform from traditional legal service providers to a one-stop-shop for legal and non-legal services to clients. And to ensure that ethical responsibilities remain intact, all ABS entities must have a Compliance Lawyer who is an active member of the Arizona State Bar and who is responsible for supervising the business and ensuring compliance with professional rules governing attorneys.

While Arizona remains the first and only state to enact such progressive rules, other jurisdictions are watching closely. Utah, for example, has created a temporary regulatory sandbox to test new legal service ownership models. Other jurisdictions, like Washington, D.C, and California, are likewise considering relaxing the rules on the ability for lawyers and non-lawyers to share fees within the same business. But for now, Arizona remains the only jurisdiction where a person doesn’t have to be a licensed attorney to own a law firm.

Should clients be troubled about all these changes? Probably not, because the ABS rules are not a mechanism for unlicensed people or disbarred lawyers to practice law. Arizona lawyers are still bound by the rules of professional responsibility whether they work at an ABS or not. What clients can be enthusiastic about, however, is the potential that their lawyer, accountant, real estate broker and financial advisor, for example, will one day all be working at the same firm, all communicating with each other about the client’s needs, and all working with an aligned interest to achieve the client’s desired goals. If it allows law firms and clients to succeed together, the Arizona ABS program should be considered a huge success.

PLEDGE 2050

Join The Footprint Foundation in taking the pledge to quit plastic. By 2050 there will be more plastic in our ocean than fish. The time is now to quit plastic. Take the pledge, enter to win a free T-shirt, and learn how we can save the planet, together. pledge2050.org

Tyler Butler is the chief social impact officer for the Weedmaps’ corporate portfolio, where she leads programs that positively impact humanity. She is also the founder of 11.11CoLab and is often cited as a subject-matter expert by Forbes, SHRM, Entrepreneur, US News & World Report and more. weedmaps.com

A Footprint for a Sustainable Future

Creating alternatives to single-use and short-term-use plastics, motivated by awareness that chemicals from plastic packaging are seeping into food

by Tyler Butler

Do you remember the infamous video, showing Christine Figgener, Ph.D., pulling a straw out of a sea turtle’s nose? The video went viral on YouTube and is widely considered to be the catalyst that launched the outrage and action about plastic ocean pollution.

Long before that, though, in 2014 it was Troy Swope and Yoke Chung, who met at Intel and noticed that plastic residue in packaging was damaging computer wafers during shipping. After further research they were able to confirm their own suspicions: Chemicals from plastic packaging were seeping into food.

The duo recognized that plastic had been linked to a number of health issues, and that it served as a contributing factor to the global environmental crisis. Recognizing what was unfolding due to single-use plastic pollution, they saw an opportunity to create a solution.

The result was Footprint, a materials science technology company that uses research and development to invent plantbased material alternatives to single-use and short-term-use plastics. Footprint has a clear mission to create a healthier planet and healthier people. In the first phase of its mission, the company is working to eliminate single-use and short-term-use plastics in the packaging found in consumer goods, and in our food chain — for large food suppliers and in grocery stores.

Footprint works closely with many of the world’s largest retailers and food companies, including Conagra, McDonalds, Kraft, General Mills, P&G, Beyond Meat and Sweetgreen. Early on, Conagra was a key partner, entrusting Footprint with the development of plant-based fiber bowls for its Healthy Choice line of frozen foods.

Thanks to its customer-centric, consultative approach in developing disruptive solutions to solve specific, firsttime challenges, Footprint found its niche. This partnership between Footprint and Conagra has proven successful for both companies, leading to increased sales and plastic reduction. Perhaps more impressive than this is how Footprint is further supporting its own mission. Footprint is prompting positive change through several philanthropic conservation-based efforts it has launched.

Footprint started its foundation in 2021, and initiated Pledge 2050, a call to action encouraging people around the world to quit single-use plastic. The Footprint Foundation educates people on the serious impact that plastic has on our planet and bodies. The Foundation’s goal is to work collaboratively together with businesses and consumers to inspire long-lasting change.

Footprint believes the time is now to quit plastic, encouraging people to take the pledge sponsored by the Footprint Foundation and committing to eliminate a single-use plastic item from their everyday life, whether it’s plastic water bottles, plastic utensils, plastic bags, or plastic straws. The company’s foundation also works with many global NGOs and community organizations as well as academia, with several initiatives underway in Arizona specifically. Pledge 2050 has provided a way to encourage consumers to take small steps to reduce plastic.

Larry Fitzgerald Jr., former NFL Arizona Cardinal, and executive chair of 2023 Superbowl Committee, shared, “As a father of three and a lover of travel, I want to see our world be a safer and more sustainable home for future generations. Footprint’s vision of reducing and even eliminating toxins from the food we eat is a landmark step in the right direction. I’m going to be taking Footprint Foundation’s Pledge 2050, committing to what we can do to reduce plastic waste in our lives. Together we can change things — whether it’s at a football game, basketball game, a concert or at home.”

Now coming full circle, the same doctor who pulled that straw from the turtle’s nose in that viral video now serves as the organization’s director of science and education. Dr. Figgener brings with her an expertise in marine conservation, a passion for this work and her YouTube celebrity status, with a focus on eliminating plastic pollution while empowering women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Through her role with the foundation, she is uniting her passions to increase awareness and knowledge about how people can help eliminate plastic waste from the environment and food chain by making easy, everyday changes.

Footprint has the rare opportunity to change history and move mankind toward a more sustainable and healthy way of living. Whether through its innovative science-based solutions or through its leadership on awareness and mitigation, Footprint is laying a path for us to follow as we work to save our planet.

ARIZONA VS. TEXAS

Arizona

• Small businesses: 610,000 ventures • 99.5% of business market • 1.1 million employees • 43% of state workforce • Top industries: real estate and rental and leasing; and professional, scientific and technical services

Texas

• Small businesses: 3 million ventures • 99.8% of business market • 4.9 million workers • 45% of state workforce • Top industries: construction; and professional, scientific and technical services Source: Small Business Administration

Don Henninger, executive director of Scottsdale Coalition of Today & Tomorrow (SCOTT), spent more than 30 years in the newspaper business in the Valley with The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette, where he served in numerous roles, including managing editor, and at the Phoenix Business Journal, where he was publisher for 14 years. SCOTT is a nonprofit group of business and civic leaders who work to educate and advocate for issues important to the city’s economic health and quality of life. scottnow.com

Sizing Up the Competition

Arizona and Texas have a lot in common, more than just Glenn Hamer

by Don Henninger

When it comes to business expansion and recruitment, Arizona and Texas are two of the most successful and competitive states in the country.

Both have emerged from the pandemic era with more jobs than before it started. With low tax rates and friendly business climates, both continue to be top targets for companies moving from states with higher tax rates, like California.

While they compete for business, they compete for talent, too.

And Texas business leaders snared some talent from Arizona a little over a year ago when they recruited Glenn Hamer. Hamer had a 14-year run as CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry before accepting a job leading the Texas Association of Business, a similar group there.

Under his leadership, the Arizona chamber became the state’s most powerful business advocacy group, scoring a host of public policy wins that, among other things, cut the state’s corporate income tax rate, lowered commercial property tax assessment ratios and increased capital investment in Arizona.

Those achievements strengthened Arizona’s business climate and positioned it to compete with competitors like Texas, which has an advantage in the sheer size of its economy.

“Texas hosts about 50 Fortune 500 companies and attracts more. The economy is massive and diversified. At about $2 trillion, it’s ranked as the ninth largest in the world among countries,” Hamer says. “Texas is also far and away the largest export state. I really look at the state as a country in terms of the output here.”

Despite the size differences, there are common traits in both states that give them high appeal as well as a competitive edge. “Arizona and Texas feel like cousins. We’re both border states. We’re both growing fast. We’re both well-governed,” Hamer says.

Hamer did significant work to keep the tax structure low in Arizona and that’s a priority for him in Texas, as well. “We are working on tax policies that will keep Texas in the lead for major capital projects and workforce issues around the clock. Given that Texas is the energy capital of the world, this area is also critical for us. It’s more important than ever that the U.S. takes an all-of-the-above strategy to power our economy and keep the free world brimming with energy. Then, Texas can lead the way as the country’s leading producer of natural gas, oil, wind and hydrogen and now also as a powerhouse for electric car production with Tesla.”

One of the prime lures common to both states is they both have a welcoming attitude. “Arizona is a welcoming state. It’s very easy for someone new to fit right in. Something like 70% of adults moved in from somewhere else. As a guy who moved to Arizona after growing up in New York, I couldn’t believe how friendly the people were to me.”

Hamer has discovered a similar attitude in the Longhorn state. “Texas is just as welcoming but comes with a twist: roots. Something like 80% of Texans remain in Texas. We have people at TAB who are sixth and seventh generation, and that’s not uncommon. These roots mean that while you’re coming into a warm, great place, there are a few more controls on the speed of joining the big kids’ table, so to speak.”

Part of the welcoming environment is establishing a network of relationships, which is key to any leader.

Hamer had a long list of mentors whom he credits for his success in Arizona, including a handful of well-known leaders from the private sector: Steve Twist, Michael Bidwill, Reg Ballantyne, Pat Barnes and the late Doug Yonko; and the public sector: Sen. Jon Kyl, Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Commerce Authority CEO Sandra Watson.

With one year now under his belt now in Texas, he’s assembling his network there and has spent a lot of time traveling throughout the state hearing from leaders.

“When you take on a new job, you need to work extra hard and listen to all the people who will talk to you about the organization. You need to understand what people like and what they want to improve,” he says. “You learn by listening, asking the right questions, and making clear that their words will be respected and incorporated into how you approach your job.”

Hamer quickly adapted to Arizona’s lifestyle and it looks like he’s doing the same thing in Texas. “You also need to embrace the culture,” he says. “For me, that meant getting a pair of Lucchese boots, eating lots of BBQ, and beginning to learn the Texas two-step.”

Hamer was quick on his feet in Arizona, and it looks like that’s working for him in Texas, too.