The Florida Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the The Florida Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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How may a Florida lawyer pay a for-profit lawyer-matching or referral service without improperly splitting fees?
Payment is permissible if it is a fixed charge tied to the provider's marketing and administrative costs, not a cut of the lawyer's fee or a charge based on the value of the case.
Can a Florida lawyer split fees with an out-of-state lawyer whose firm has nonlawyer owners?
Yes, if the out-of-state lawyer is authorized to provide the services, nonlawyer ownership is permitted and complied with in that firm's home jurisdiction, and the fee split follows Florida's fee-divi…
Can a Florida lawyer refer clients to a finance company that loans them money to pay legal fees?
Yes, if the lawyer has no interest in the lender, offers other payment options, charges no higher fee, keeps the representation regardless of repayment, and gets no benefit beyond the fee.
Can a Florida lawyer buy a deceased attorney's practice from the estate and tie the installment payments to future collections?
Yes. A lawyer may purchase a law practice from a deceased attorney's estate and agree to reduce the annual installment payments if the firm's collections fall below an agreed amount in future years.
Can a lawyer take a referral fee from a financial advisor for sending clients, or refer clients to the lawyer's own side business?
A lawyer may accept a referral fee from a nonlawyer securities dealer only if the referral is in the client's best interest, the lawyer fully discloses and obtains the client's informed written consen…
Can a Florida lawyer pay a paralegal or legal assistant a bonus based on the number of hours they billed?
No. Rule 4-5.4(a)(4) lets a lawyer pay a nonlawyer employee a bonus for extraordinary efforts on a case or over a set period, but a bonus calculated solely on the hours the nonlawyer worked treats eve…
Can a law firm keep a former partner's name in the firm name after that partner retires and becomes 'of counsel'?
The opinion concluded that a firm could continue to use a retired partner's name in the firm name if the firm's name was established, the retired partner was 'of counsel' in the traditional sense (wor…
Can a lawyer accept referrals from an heir-hunting service or represent both the service and the heir in the same probate matter?
The opinion concluded that an attorney could not accept referrals from an heir-hunting service, nor represent the service and an heir jointly, where the service sought to represent heirs in a pending …
Can a lawyer take a retainer and a share of a nonlawyer company's contingent fee to handle the company's securities-arbitration clients?
The opinion concluded that the proposed affiliation was improper, raising problems of conflicts of interest, prohibited solicitation, fee-splitting with a nonlawyer, and assisting the unauthorized pra…
Can a lawyer work for a nonlawyer-owned company representing Social Security disability claimants and share the fees?
The opinion concluded that a bar member who maintains a law practice or holds out as a lawyer could not enter a business arrangement with a nonlawyer to represent Social Security disability claimants,…
When is an 'of counsel' lawyer treated as part of the firm so the fee-division rules don't apply?
The opinion concluded that an 'of counsel' lawyer is in the same firm for fee-division purposes only if the lawyer practices through that firm exclusively; a referral to an 'of counsel' lawyer with an…
Do the different-firm fee-division rules apply when a departing lawyer keeps a share of a case she brought to her old firm?
The opinion concluded that an agreement dividing a fee between a firm and a lawyer who brought the case is not subject to the rules governing divisions between lawyers in different firms when the lawy…
Can two separate law firms form a joint venture to handle personal injury and wrongful death cases together?
The opinion concluded that the rules and committee opinions do not contemplate joint venture arrangements between law firms, and that it is improper to form a third firm solely to evade the limits on …
May a lawyer enter a referral and fee arrangement with a public adjusting firm that solicits accident victims and shares in the lawyer's fee?
The opinion concluded that it is unethical for a lawyer to participate in such an arrangement, which would involve improper fee-splitting with a nonlawyer, improper solicitation, and assisting the unl…
When may a Florida lawyer divide a fee with an out-of-state attorney who is not a member of The Florida Bar?
The opinion concluded that a Florida lawyer may divide a fee with a practicing out-of-state attorney who provides services or assumes joint responsibility under Rule 4-1.5, but not with a non-Florida …
Can a lawyer pay a referral fee to a referring attorney who became suspended or disbarred after the fee-division agreement was signed?
The opinion concluded that a referring attorney who is suspended, disbarred, or resigns after a proper fee-division agreement is signed may be paid on a quantum meruit basis for the responsibility ass…
Can a law firm hire a nonlawyer to solicit business and pay them a commission on the fees they bring in?
The opinion concluded that a nonlawyer may do only the marketing a lawyer may ethically do (not in-person or telephone solicitation), may not be paid commissions tied to legal fees, and may not use a …
Can a lawyer who refers a personal injury case away because of a conflict still collect the 25% referral fee?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who refers a personal injury case because of a conflict may not take the 25% referral fee; the lawyer may receive only the reasonable value of services performed be…
Can a lawyer run a second business or share office space with a nonlawyer from the same premises?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may practice two professions from the same premises and may share office space with a nonlawyer, but must preserve client confidences, post separate signs to avoid …
Can a lawyer take assignments from a temporary-lawyer staffing agency that rents lawyers to firms?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may accept assignments from a temporary-lawyer agency only if confidentiality, conflicts, professional independence, unauthorized-practice, and fee-division concern…
Do Florida's contingent-fee limits and Statement of Client's Rights apply to Florida lawyers practicing out of state or working with out-of-state co-counsel?
The opinion concluded that choice-of-law principles, turning on which jurisdiction has the most significant relationship to the client and case, determine whether Florida's contingent-fee schedule and…
Can a bank charge borrowers for its in-house counsel's loan-closing work and pay that lawyer a bonus based on those charges?
The opinion concluded that a bank may require borrowers to reimburse the bank's actual cost of in-house counsel's loan-closing services and may pay that lawyer a bonus on those charges, but only if th…
Can a lawyer join a barter exchange and take goods and services instead of cash for legal fees?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may join a barter exchange when membership is a flat annual fee rather than a percentage of legal fees, when the exchange furnishes members a list of attorney membe…
Can a Florida attorney practicing as a professional association be a partner, through the corporation, in a partnership of attorneys?
The opinion concluded that an attorney practicing as a professional association may participate, in the form of his corporation, as a partner in a partnership of attorneys, as long as the professional…
How can a retiring lawyer hand off open client files, and may the successor lawyer divide fees with the retiring lawyer?
The opinion concluded a retiring lawyer may send clients a form letter offering to place files with a named successor, help the client choose another lawyer, or return the files, and that the successo…
Can a lawyer employed full-time by a firm practice under his own name, and can a Florida Bar member working from an out-of-state office say so on his letterhead?
The opinion concluded a full-time firm employee may not practice under his own name to the exclusion of the firm name, but if he also maintains an individual practice his own letterhead is proper; a F…
Does a Florida lawyer who takes over a tort case have to share the fee with the client's discharged first attorney?
The opinion concluded no; the second attorney has no ethical duty to divide the fee with the discharged first attorney, as long as the fee arrangement with the client contained no provision for such a…
Can a firm split fees on referred cases with a terminally ill referring lawyer or that lawyer's estate?
The opinion concluded a law firm may divide fees for referred cases with a lawyer suffering from terminal illness, or with that lawyer's estate, in proportion to the services performed and responsibil…
Can a firm accept a case referred by another firm that had to drop a conflicting client, and can it pay that firm a customary referral fee?
The opinion concluded that the receiving firm may represent the referred client where no confidences were violated and it never represented conflicting interests, but it may not pay a customary one-th…
Can a lawyer pay co-counsel who was suspended mid-case a share of the awarded fee for the work done before the suspension?
The opinion concluded that an attorney may properly pay suspended co-counsel a portion of the awarded fee based on work done before the suspension; a 2011 Florida appellate decision later held that a …
Can a Florida lawyer represent a layman who wants to run a business that sends lien notices, files lien claims, and brings lien foreclosures for other laymen?
No. The committee concluded that helping a layman set up such a lien-handling service would assist the unauthorized practice of law and improperly involve fee division with, and an intermediary betwee…
How must a law firm organized as a professional association tell clients about its corporate form, and can a nonlawyer retirement plan be funded from firm profits?
The opinion concluded that including 'Professional Association,' 'P.A.,' or 'Chartered' in the firm name gives clients adequate notice of the corporate form, that a fictitious name is acceptable if th…
Can a lawyer share a contingent fee with another attorney whose only role in the case was serving as a witness?
The opinion concluded that it would be improper to divide a contingent fee with another attorney whose only contact with the litigation was as a witness.
May a Florida lawyer divide fees with an inactive New York lawyer living in Florida who refers Florida clients to him?
Generally no. The committee concluded it may constitute aiding the unauthorized practice of law to accept cases referred by a New York lawyer residing in Florida and divide the fee, and that it would …
Can a lawyer represent a credit bureau and also handle the collection matters it forwards, with the bureau gathering the litigation information and the lawyer's secretary working on the bureau's premises?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may represent a credit bureau in its own affairs, but may not let the bureau procure the information needed for litigation, may not locate his part-time secretary o…
Can a group of lawyers agree that probate fees earned by one of them will be shared with the lawyer who drafted the will, or that lawyer's survivors?
The opinion concluded that it is not ethically proper for a group of attorneys to contract to divide a probate fee with the lawyer who drafted the will, or his survivors, because the division would no…
Can a lawyer who took over a case from a lawyer who was later disbarred share the fee with the disbarred lawyer for work done before the disbarment?
The opinion concluded that the successor lawyer could divide the fee with the disbarred lawyer only to the extent the disbarred lawyer fairly earned it through services and responsibility before disba…
Can a lawyer take over cases from a disbarred lawyer, and can the lawyer pay or split a fee with the disbarred lawyer for work done before disbarment?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer should not accept case referrals directly from a disbarred lawyer, but may take over the disbarred lawyer's matters when the client makes the request and fee arrang…
Can a Florida law firm affiliate with a corporation solely to qualify for group health insurance rates?
The opinion concluded that a firm may affiliate with a corporation it represents purely as a technical step to obtain group medical and hospitalization insurance, provided the firm keeps its independe…
Can a lawyer accept employment from a real estate broker's tax-advisory company that solicits taxpayers and hires the lawyer to pursue their tax-reduction claims?
No. The committee found it highly improper for a lawyer to take employment from a broker-run tax-advisory company that solicits the business and selects and pays the lawyer, holding it amounts to prac…
Can a lawyer accept payment from a bank for writing title insurance and closing loans the lawyer refers to that bank?
A majority of the committee saw nothing improper in a bank charging the borrower for services and title insurance and remitting to the referring lawyer a service charge plus a fee for representing and…
Can a lawyer be disciplined for refusing to pay a forwarding fee to a collection agency that referred a claim?
No. The committee concluded a lawyer cannot be subjected to disciplinary proceedings for refusing to pay a forwarding fee to a collection agency, because the applicable Canons prohibit paying a forwar…
Can a lawyer who is a corporation's general manager have his corporate salary reduced by his outside law-practice fees over a threshold?
The committee said the arrangement, reducing the manager's corporate salary by law-practice fees above a set amount, is subject to criticism and open to interpretation as dividing legal fees with a la…
Can a Florida lawyer split a fee with an out-of-state lawyer who no longer practices and did no work on the case?
No. The committee concluded it would be highly improper for a Florida lawyer to divide any portion of a fee with an out-of-state lawyer (a former New Jersey lawyer now a minister) who was not in pract…
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Legal ethics opinions from the The Florida 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.