律师事务所是由一名或者多名律师组成的从事法律业务的经营主体。律师事务所提供的主要服务是就客户(个人或公司)的法律权利和责任提供建议，并在民事或刑事案件、商业交易以及其他需要法律咨询和其他援助的事项中代表客户。律师事务所的组织方式多种多样，这取决于事务所所处的司法管辖区。
常见的安排包括:独资企业，律师为律师事务所，对所有利润、损失和责任负责;普通合伙，所有律师都是公司的成员，他们分享所有权、利润和债务;专业公司，以类似商业公司的方式向律师发行股票;有限责任公司，其中律师业主被称为“成员”，但对律师事务所的第三方债权人不负有直接责任(在许多司法管辖区被禁止，但在其他司法管辖区允许以“专业有限责任公司”或“PLLC”的形式);与专业公司、有限责任公司类似的专业协会;有限责任合伙(LLP)，在这种合伙中，律师所有者彼此是合伙人，但合伙人不对律师事务所的任何债权人承担责任，也不对其他合伙人的任何过失承担责任。有限责任公司作为合伙企业纳税，同时享受公司的责任保护。对所有权权益的限制在包括美国在内的许多国，都有一条规定，即只有律师才能拥有律师事务所的所有权权益，或者是律师事务所的经理。因此，律师事务所不可能像大多数公司一样，通过在股票市场进行公开募股(ipo)来迅速筹集资金。它们必须要么通过现有合伙人或其他股权合伙人的额外出资来筹集资本，要么必须举债，通常以应收账款担保的信用额度形式。
在美国，这种完全禁止非律师拥有的法律已经被美国律师协会编入《职业行为示范规则》第5.4条第(d)款，并在除哥伦比亚特区以外的所有美国司法管辖区以这样或那样的形式采用。然而,华盛顿特区高盛的规则经过了严格的调整，只允许积极协助律师提供法律服务的非律师合伙人拥有股权，不允许向仅仅是被动的非律师投资者出售股权。英国也有类似的规定，禁止非律师持股，但根据2007年《法律服务法》(Legal Services Act)实施的改革，律师事务所可以聘用数量有限的非律师合伙人，律师也被允许与非律师和非律师所有的企业建立广泛的业务关系。例如，这使得杂货店、银行和社区组织可以聘请律师为顾客提供店内和网上的基本法律服务。这项规定是有争议的。许多法律界人士认为这是合理的，尤其是美国律师协会，他们拒绝了一项修改其20/20道德改革规则的提议，认为必要时可以防止利益冲突。在对抗制司法制度下，律师有义务成为当事人的热心、忠诚的辩护人，也有义务不向当事人开出过高的费用。
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.
Law firms are organ
ized in a variety of ways, depending on the jurisdiction in which the firm practices. Common arrangements include:
Sole proprietorship, in which the attorney is the law firm and is responsible for all profit, loss and liability;
General partnership, in which all the attorneys who are members of the firm share ownership, profits and liabilities;
Professional corporations, which issue stock to the attorneys in a fashion similar to that of a business corporation;
Limited liability company, in which the attorney-owners are called "members" but are not directly liable to third party creditors of the law firm (prohibited as against public policy in many jurisdictions but allowed in others in the form of a "Professional Limited Liability Company" or "PLLC");
Professional association, which operates similarly to a professional corporation or a limited liability company;
Limited liability partnership (LLP), in which the attorney-owners are partners with one another, but no partner is liable to any creditor of the law firm nor is any partner liable for any negligence on the part of any other partner. The LLP is taxed as a partnership while enjoying the liability protection of a corporation.
Restrictions on ownership interests