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.
They do not usually afford directors the same degree of limitation of liability as ordinary business corporations (cf.
[1] 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.
[citation needed] In U.S. federal subject matter jurisdiction, professional corporations have two citizenships for purposes of diversity, just like ordinary corporations, namely that they are citizens of (1) the state in which they are incorporated and (2) the state in which they have their principal place of business.
[3] This has the effect of expanding diversity jurisdiction in suits to which the professional corporation is a party compared to these alternate forms of business organization, thereby expanding the professional corporation's access to the federal courts, which may be advantageous to the firm.