ISBA Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 12-03
Topic: Advertising and Solicitation; Confidentiality; Referral Fees and Arrangements
Digest of the ISBA:
“A lawyer may participate in a networking group with other service professionals which refers clients to one another if: (a) the reciprocal referrals are not exclusive; (b) the lawyer requests prior consent from the client to give his or her name to someone in the networking group, although the better practice might be for the lawyer to give the name of the other ‘professional’ to the client; (c) the client is informed of the existence of the referral agreement between the lawyer and the non-lawyer professional; and (d) the referral arrangement does not interfere with the lawyer’s professional judgment as to making the referral or providing substantive legal services.”
References: Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct 1.6(a), 2.1, 5.4, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3; ISBA Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 97-01; ABA Formal Opinion No. 09-455; New York Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(b)(2).
The full text is available at http://www.isba.org…