MDPs are not 'pictures of doom', say accountants

The Dutch and other Bar associations are trying to spin the debate on multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs) by 'painting pictures of doom for the legal profession', Big Five accountants Arthur Andersen claimed last week.

At the conference, Andersens published its argument against the Dutch Bar's ban on MDPs, which is to be heard by the European Court of Justice after a Dutch court upheld it.

Andersens' submission said: 'The Dutch Bar's position, when looked at objectively, is difficult to understand and fundamentally illogical.'

Andersens will argue that the Bar is preventing accountants from competing with lawyers, relying on freedom to provide services and right of establishment provisions in the Treaty of Rome.

The IBA has avoided either approving or disapproving MDPs.

Anne Mizzi