Opinion No. 361 of the District of Columbia Bar’s Legal Ethics Committee Summary of the Committee: “Lawyer’s Acceptance of Compensation From Non–Lawyer Entity for Referring Client to Such Entity; Opinion 245 Overruled in Part” “A lawyer who refers a client to a non–lawyer service provider such as a financial services firm may accept compensation from the […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: Links on a Lawyer’s Web site to Other Businesses Digest of the Committee: A lawyer may include links to other businesses on the lawyer’s web site provided neither the link nor the linked material involves misrepresentation or causes confusion. Rules: New York Rules of Professional Conduct 5.8(a), 7.1, 8.4 The full […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: Attorney Advertisement; Solicitation of Clients; Profit Sharing Digest of the Committee: A lawyer or law firm may have a non-lawyer marketer who engages in only that advertising and solicitation in which the lawyer or law firm could engage. The lawyer or law firm may have a profit-sharing plan that pays […]
Topic: Lawyers’ Use of Deal-of-the-Day or Group Coupon Marketing Programs Digest of the Committee: Opinion rules that a lawyer may advertise on a website that offers daily discounts to consumers where the website company’s compensation is a percentage of the amount paid to the lawyer if certain disclosures are made and certain conditions are satisfied. […]
Ethics Committee Topic: Outsourcing of Legal Services Conclusion of the Committee: “A lawyer may ethically outsource legal support services to a nonlawyer who is not associated with the firm or working under the direct supervision of a lawyer in the firm if the lawyer (1) rigorously supervises the nonlawyer so as to avoid aiding the […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: Lawyers Referrals of Clients Digest of the Committee: E-mails to other lawyers requesting referrals of clients are not ‘solicitations’ regulated by Rule 7.3. However, the e-mails must comply with Rules 7.4 and 8.4(c). Rules: New York Rules of Professional Conduct 1.0(a), 1.5(g), 7.1, 7.3, 7.3(b), 7.4, 8.4(c) The full text is […]
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Topic: Lawyer’s Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services Digest of the Committee: “A lawyer may outsource legal or nonlegal support services provided the lawyer remains ultimately responsible for rendering competent legal services to the client under Model Rule 1.1. In complying with […]
State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct Formal Opinion 2007-172 Topic: Payment of fees and/or expenses by credit card. Digest of the Committee: “1. An attorney may ethically accept payment of earned fees from a client by credit card. In doing so, however, the attorney must discharge his or her duty of […]
Opinion No. 342 of the District of Columbia Bar’s Legal Ethics Committee Topic: Internet-Based Lawyer Referral Services Digest of the Committee: Lawyers may participate in both not-for-profit and for-profit lawyer Internet-based referral services where the services require a flat fee for participation, a flat fee for transmitting the lawyer’s name to a potential client, and/or […]
Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas Topic: Internet; Referral Services Conclusion of the Committee: Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer may pay a fee to participate in an internet client-lawyer connection service of the type described in this opinion provided that the requirements specified in this opinion are […]