Professional corporation

Professional corporations or professional service corporations (abbreviated as PC or PSC) are those corporate entities for which many corporation statutes make special provision, regulating the use of the corporate form by licensed professionals such as lawyers, architects, engineers, public accountants and physicians. The general category of the PC or PSC can be as S-corporation, C-corporation, or LLC, but with subcategorization as a PC or PSC. Legal regulations applying to professional corporations typically differ in important ways from those applying to other corporations. Unlike a traditional corporation, operation as a professional corporation does not insulate a professional for personal liability for her own negligence or malpractice. The principal reason why groups of professions choose to organize as a professional corporation is that, unlike a general partnership, an owner is not personally liable for the negligence or malpractice of other owners. In some states a limited liability partnership offer the same benefit and thus should be considered as a possible business entity by professionals who are forming a business.

Professional corporations may have a single director or multiple directors. They do not usually afford directors the same degree of limitation of liability as ordinary business corporations (cf. LLP). Such corporations must identify themselves as professional corporations by including "PC" or "P.C." after the firm's name.

Professional corporations may exist as part of a larger, more complicated, legal entity; for example, a law firm or medical practice might be organized as a partnership of several or many professional corporations.