What Is a PLLC (Professional LLC)? Definition and Use

Definition

PLLC (Professional LLC) - A PLLC (professional limited liability company) is an LLC formed by licensed professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, or accountants, where state law requires a professional entity.

Many states require licensed professionals to organize as a PLLC rather than an ordinary LLC when the business provides services that need a state license. For example, a group of physicians or a solo attorney may be barred from using a standard LLC and must instead form a PLLC whose members hold the relevant professional license, with the entity subject to oversight by the applicable licensing board.

The common misconception is that a PLLC behaves identically to a regular LLC for privacy. It often does not. Because the state and licensing board must confirm that owners are licensed professionals, PLLC filings frequently require members to be named and their licenses verified, and a PLLC does not shield a professional from personal malpractice liability for their own work, only from the malpractice of co-members and from ordinary business debts.

For anonymity-focused founders in Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada, the licensing disclosure inherent to a PLLC can conflict with keeping owners off the public record, so a PLLC is less amenable to full anonymity than a standard anonymous LLC. Professionals should check their state's specific PLLC rules and licensing-board disclosure requirements before assuming an anonymous structure is available for a licensed practice.