Do you have to be an attorney to be a partner in a law firm?

There's no legal requirement for you to be an attorney to be a partner, but it would be very unusual for attorneys to make someone a partner who isn't a lawyer. In a law firm, attorneys are revenue generators, and everyone else is overhead.

In the majority of Jurisdiction I am familiar with the answer is NO

Because in those jurisdictions a lawyer may not split legal fees billed with a non-practicing attorney, a lawyer may only split/share fees between licensed attorney within the state or licensed in another state but may not share/split fees with a lay person

So you could not be a partner in a law firm and receive compensation based upon a fee split , revenue sharing or have any say in the day to day legal operation of the company in theory they could make you a paid employee and be the CFO with a flat pay dealing solely with the business operational side but in majority of law firms the partners compensation is based upon the billable hours of the company for any one year

This depends on the rules of professional conduct in your state. I do not know the rules in every state, but for the most part it is not possible to be a partner unless their is a fee splitting agreement. Generally fee splitting is only allowed between attorneys.

So the answer is generally no, you cannot be a partner.

Your State Bar association should have an ethics hot line---call it to confirm

Yes, it is possible. Although having attorneys be the partners is a very logical arrangement, it's not a requirement--you could have one partner who is a good attorney and another who is a good businessman, for example.

unsolicited mail is an fool. good success, chum, attend evening college, get the regulation degree, bypass the state bar and then open your individual regulation organization. you will no longer purely be better half, yet proprietor besides. Oh yeah, and you will desire a leg up on maximum individuals for reservations in hell. Being from Wisconsin, i've got self belief embarrassed at having to verify such an idiotic question.

Anything is possible, it really depends on the firm.

?? I suppose it is POSSIBLE, but I have never heard of a law firm that operated that way.