The below is a summary of top news in legal risk management for the week of January 9, 2012.

• A matter of ownership: “An American Bar Association commission is considering recommending that nonlawyers be allowed to take an equity stake in law firms for which they work while urging that an existing ban be maintained on the kind of outside investment in U.S. firms that is now possible in the United Kingdom and Australia,” AmLaw Daily reported. Sidebar: The ABA Commission on Ethics has a paper (.pdf) about the issue. [AmLaw Daily]
• “Don’t Do This” of the week: “[I]t is professionally unethical for a practicing attorney to ask a law student to use her free Lexis or Westlaw account for firm work,” wrote blogger Rod Hudson. The full opinion cites the research services’ terms of service. [Legal Skills Prof Blog]
• Now, there’s an app for that: The New York State Bar Association launched a mobile application that gives users instant access to ethics guidance. “I walk around my office, and it’s more common for the younger associates to be on their mobile devices than on their desktop computers,” Bar Association President Vincent Doyle said. [Super Lawyers]
• Callback: After writing that securitization poses new risks for law firms, we noticed issuers brought more than $2b in auto asset-backed securities to market last week. [Wall Street Journal]

This digest is a weekly post that summarizes the stories that made the news during the last week in the field of legal risk management. To submit news tips, contact Andrew Graham via email.