On February 27, 2025, the American legal market changed forever. KPMG launched KPMG Law US, becoming the first Big Four firm to operate a law firm in the United States. It was not a rumour, not a pilot, it was a fully licensed subsidiary approved by the Arizona Supreme Court, and it sent shockwaves across the entire legal industry.
For decades, US professional regulations have barred non-lawyers from owning law firms. The rules were clear, the walls were high, and Big Law operated comfortably behind them. Arizona changed that in 2021 by creating the Alternative Business Structure (ABS) programme, which allows entities to offer legal services even when some of their ownership or decision-making is controlled by non-lawyers.
KPMG Law US operates as an independently managed subsidiary of KPMG, maintaining strategic alignment with its tax practice, and collaborates with KPMG’s global network of law firms already operating in more than 80 jurisdictions. Arizona was the entry point. National reach is the destination.
What makes KPMG Law US genuinely disruptive is not just its size or financial muscle – it is its model. KPMG Law US plans to deliver technology-enabled legal services powered by artificial intelligence and the KPMG Digital Gateway, building upon the firm’s established Legal Business Services practice.
This is not a traditional law firm that has added a few tech tools. It is a technology company that has obtained a legal licence. The distinction matters enormously.
KPMG Law US is focusing primarily on work that does not fit into Big Law’s business model, high-volume, routine work that partners at traditional firms charge four-figure hourly rates to handle. Top firms will continue to steer massive corporate transactions, but KPMG wants the business that comes after a deal: harmonising commercial contracts, dissolving entities, and supporting corporate legal departments on an ongoing basis.
The reaction from the legal establishment has been cautious, and rightly so. Traditional lawyer-owned law firms are watching the Arizona experiment warily, because KPMG has the deep pockets, corporate clientele, and technology investments that could make it a potentially powerful rival.
While some critics have expressed concerns over potential conflicts of interest, the court order approving KPMG Law US stipulated that the firm cannot provide legal services to clients for which it also performs financial audits. Safeguards are in place – but the competitive threat is real and growing.
KPMG Law US has spent the months since its approval forming co-counsel relationships with attorneys licensed in states with tighter restrictions on non-lawyer ownership, building a pathway to serve clients nationally from its base in Tempe, Arizona. The firm has expanded its work beyond Arizona through co-counselling relationships, referrals, and by subcontracting lawyers. The strategy is clear: Arizona first, the rest of the country next.
The launch of KPMG Law US is more than a corporate announcement. It is a signal that the convergence of law, technology and consulting – long underway in the UK and Australia – has finally arrived in the United States.
For law firms, the message is urgent: the competitive landscape is shifting. For legal talent, new career paths are opening. And for corporate clients, the promise is compelling (faster, smarter and more cost-effective legal services). The rules of the game have changed; the question now is how quickly the rest of the market will adapt.
