Alabama State Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Alabama State Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can an Alabama lawyer collect both a court-awarded fee and a contingency fee, and share court-awarded fees with a referring lawyer?
Yes to both, with limits. The lawyer may take a contingency fee and petition for a statutory fee award if the combined amount is not clearly excessive, and may share court-awarded fees with a referrin…
Can an Alabama lawyer share legal fees with an accountant or other non-lawyer for referring or working on a BP oil-spill claim?
No. Prosecuting a BP claim is the practice of law, so sharing the fee with a non-lawyer, or paying a non-lawyer for the referral, violates Rules 5.4(a), 5.5, and 7.2(c).
Can an Alabama lawyer sell discounted legal services through Groupon or other daily-deal websites?
No. The opinion concludes that the website's percentage cut is impermissible fee sharing with a non-lawyer under Rule 5.4, and the model also implicates the trust-account, refund, conflict-check, comp…
In Alabama, can a law firm hire a temporary or contract lawyer through a staffing agency, and what conflict, confidentiality, consent, and fee rules apply?
Yes. A firm may use a temporary lawyer placed by a staffing agency if it runs conflict checks (the temp is treated as a firm member for Rule 1.10), safeguards confidentiality, informs the client and o…
Can one lawyer pay another lawyer's advertising costs in exchange for the advertised lawyer referring clients?
No. The opinion concluded the arrangement violates Rule 7.1 because it misleads the public about which lawyer will actually represent them, and violates Rule 7.2(c) because paying a lawyer's advertisi…
Can a collections lawyer pay a percentage of recoveries to a third-party software/electronic-network company that connects the firm with creditor clients?
Yes. The opinion concluded that paying a national attorney network a 3% fee for software licensing and electronic data transfer is not fee-splitting with a non-lawyer and is not a prohibited for-profi…
Can a title or finance company collect 'settlement fees' for legal work its in-house counsel performs at real estate closings, instead of attorney's fees?
No. The opinion concluded that a company collecting fees for legal work performed by its in-house counsel is splitting legal fees with a nonlawyer entity in violation of Rule 5.4(a), and renaming the …
Can a lawyer take collections work from a child-support collection agency that keeps a percentage of what is collected, and represent the custodial parent the agency refers?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may represent the agency (and the custodial parent) and may be paid by the agency, but may never split a legal fee with the nonlawyer agency or pay it for soliciting or …
Can a title company owned by a bank prepare closing documents and charge for them using in-house attorneys, and have nonlawyer branch staff conduct the closings?
The opinion concluded that legal documents may be prepared only by or under the direct supervision of licensed attorneys, but if the company charges for that legal work it engages in the unauthorized …
Can a law firm pay a non-lawyer for valuable help with litigation, such as locating an expert witness, without violating the fee-splitting rule?
The opinion concluded a firm may pay a non-lawyer for services rendered to the lawyer (such as advice and help securing an expert witness) without violating Rule 5.4, but may not pay the non-lawyer an…
Can a non-lawyer employer bill its clients for the work of its in-house lawyer without violating the rule against sharing fees with non-lawyers?
The opinion concluded a non-lawyer employer may bill clients for legal work done by its in-house lawyer only if the charge is limited to the employer's actual cost of providing those services; the emp…
Can a collections lawyer sell his existing client accounts to a collection agency he partly owns and route new business through it?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may own a collection agency that pursues lawful collection methods, but he may not sell or 'sub-contract' his legal collection accounts to an agency he partly owns or ro…
Can a lawyer who has since been suspended or disbarred still collect fees earned for work done while he was still licensed?
The opinion concluded a suspended or disbarred lawyer may receive, after the date of suspension or disbarment, legal fees to which he was entitled for work performed before that date, and a bankruptcy…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Alabama State Bar interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.