Illinois State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Illinois State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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May an Illinois lawyer affiliate with a for-profit client referral service that charges clients a fixed fee, splits the fee with the lawyer, offers a money-back guarantee, uses non-attorney actors in ads, and requires lawyer-client communications on its monitored online platform?
The opinion concludes no. The money-back guarantee is a prohibited paid recommendation (Rule 7.2(a)) and misleads about the lawyer's services (Rule 7.1); the lawyer-service fee split violates Rule 5.4…
Can a lawyer help a client obtain third-party litigation financing during a case without violating the ethics rules?
Yes, with limits. The opinion concludes representing or assisting a client who obtains third-party litigation financing is not unethical per se, but the lawyer must preserve independent judgment, prot…
Can class counsel agree to pay the class representative extra out of court-awarded fees if the representative's recovery is less than full damages?
It is risky. The opinion concludes such an agreement creates a substantial risk of an unwaivable Rule 1.7 conflict between the representative and absent class members, and in some circumstances could …
Can an Illinois lawyer take a security retainer by credit card, and charge the client a service fee for using a card?
Yes to both, with conditions. A security retainer paid by card must go directly into the trust account, not the business account, and any credit-card service fee must be reasonable and disclosed in ad…
Can an Illinois lawyer for an estate's executor agree that the executor will personally pay fees a probate court disallowed as excessive?
No. Under Rule 1.5(a) a lawyer may not agree to or collect a fee a probate court found unreasonable. If the court disallows part of the estate-attorney's fee as excessive, that portion is unreasonable…
Can an Illinois lawyer charge a contingent fee to find and recover a client's unclaimed property?
It depends, and the fee must still be reasonable. There is no per se bar; whether a contingent fee is proper turns on what the lawyer knew at the outset about whether the property exists, its amount, …
When may an Illinois divorce lawyer use an advance payment retainer instead of a security retainer?
Only when a security retainer cannot accomplish the client's purpose. Rule 1.15 permits an advance payment retainer (which becomes the lawyer's property and goes in the general account) in any type of…
Can an Illinois estate planning lawyer charge a fee based solely on a percentage of the value of the client's estate?
No. The opinion concludes that charging a fee calculated solely as a percentage of the estate's value, without regard to time expended and the other Rule 1.5(a) factors, is unreasonable and improper.
Can a lawyer take a contingent fee to pursue a divorced client's marital property claim after the other spouse has died?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a contingent fee is permissible in post-judgment proceedings to determine marital property rights where one former spouse has died, because reconciliation is irreversib…
Can a firm pay its unpaid fees out of trust funds left by a corporate client that has since been dissolved?
Only with consent or a court order. The opinion concludes the firm may transfer the trust funds to satisfy its fee claim if it obtains written consent from the dissolved client through a former office…
Can a patent firm charge a royalty-based finder's fee for matching its inventor clients with its product-promoter clients?
Only under strict conditions. The opinion concluded the firm may not take a royalty-type matchmaking fee unless it rebuts the common-law presumption of undue influence and obtains informed written con…
If I pay a contract or temporary lawyer to help on a case, must I tell the client and get consent?
It depends: paying a contract lawyer an hourly rate under close supervision and not billed as a disbursement needs no disclosure, but delegating without close supervision, or paying a percentage of th…
Can a lawyer charge the client an extra fee for getting a subrogation lien reduced, on top of the agreed contingency percentage?
No. The opinion concluded a lawyer cannot take an additional fee for reducing a lien beyond the percentage set in the contingency fee agreement, and cannot modify that agreement mid-representation wit…
Can a lawyer take an ongoing cut of an investment advisor's fee for referring a client to that advisor?
Not as a legal fee, and only as a business transaction if the lawyer rebuts the presumption of undue influence by showing a fair deal, full disclosure, and the client's chance to get independent advic…
Can a lawyer charge a contingent fee to collect on a divorce judgment after the divorce is final?
The opinion concluded that a contingent fee agreement in post-judgment dissolution, collection, and bankruptcy proceedings is not improper if it is in writing and reasonable in amount, because Illinoi…
Is an Illinois lawyer who collected a full fee but never paid the court reporter committing an ethics violation?
The opinion concluded that an attorney's failure to advance or collect payment to satisfy a court reporter's fee is not, by itself, a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, because the lawyer…
Can a lawyer reveal a former client's confidences to defend against the client's accusations or to collect an unpaid fee?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may, in the lawyer's discretion, reveal client confidences reasonably necessary to defend against accusations of wrongful conduct or to establish or collect a fee, …
Can a lawyer charge a client interest on litigation costs the lawyer advanced on the client's behalf?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may charge a client interest on advanced litigation expenses, provided the agreement is in writing before any interest accrues and the rate and amount of interest, …
Can a law firm give its bank a list of client accounts receivable without the clients' consent?
The opinion concluded that client fee and billing information may be a client secret, so a firm should obtain client consent before disclosing accounts-receivable records identifying clients to the fi…
Can a former lawyer use information from the representation, like surveillance photos, against the ex-client in a later proceeding?
The opinion concluded that under Rules 1.9 and 1.6 a lawyer may not use information relating to a former representation to the ex-client's disadvantage, whenever obtained, except to the extent necessa…
Can a lawyer suing a former client for unpaid fees act as both advocate and witness, and can a firm colleague handle the case instead?
The opinion concluded that although a lawyer generally should not be both advocate and witness at the same trial, a lawyer's suit to collect fees from a former client is an express exception under Rul…
Can a lawyer steer a client to a finance company for a loan to pay the lawyer's fee, and discount the fee in return?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may ethically help a client obtain a third-party loan to pay fees, because the loan runs between client and lender (not prohibited financial assistance under Rule 1…
Can a company recommend its own law firm to its employees and arrange a reduced hourly rate for them?
The opinion concluded that an arrangement in which the employer, not the lawyer, recommends the firm to employees at a guaranteed reduced rate conforms to the Rules, because no attorney solicitation i…
Can a lawyer charge a contingent fee for non-litigation work like a securities registration, combine it with hourly fees, and advertise it?
The opinion concluded a contingent fee for non-litigation work such as securities registration is not improper if it meets Rule 1.5(c) and violates no other law, that combining hourly and contingent f…
Can a lawyer bill a client for a secretary's overtime as a separate expense in addition to the legal fee?
The opinion concluded that, in limited circumstances, billing a client for a secretary's actual overtime as a separate expense is proper, where an hourly rate is set under Rule 1.5, the overtime is ne…
Can a lawyer take his fee out of client money he is holding in trust when the client owes him but hasn't paid?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may transfer trust funds to pay his fee only after giving the client written notice of his intention and obtaining the client's affirmative consent, which case law sug…
Can a lawyer charge a client interest on overdue bills or on litigation expenses the lawyer advanced?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may charge interest on both past-due fees and advanced expenses, provided the client is told in advance, ideally in a written fee agreement, and given a reasonable time …
Can a lawyer reimburse a witness for expenses, and pay a fact witness for time spent being interviewed?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may reimburse a witness's reasonable expenses and pay reasonable compensation for lost time, including time spent in an interview, but never as a way to influence testim…
If a contingent-fee lawyer is disbarred mid-case, can he recover for work already done, and must the successor lawyer share the fee with him?
The opinion concluded the disbarred lawyer may recover in quantum meruit for the reasonable value of work done before disbarment, but the successor lawyer has no obligation to divide the contingent fe…
Can a lawyer bill clients for computerized legal research like Lexis or Westlaw, and may a firm use a cost formula to do it?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may charge clients for computerized legal research as an itemized expense using a formula that reasonably reflects the firm's actual cost, or may instead absorb it into …
Can a law firm require a departing lawyer to share fees later earned from clients who follow that lawyer to a new practice?
The opinion concluded no; a clause forcing a withdrawing lawyer to pay the firm a percentage of fees from former firm clients who later hire that lawyer divides fees without a proportionate division o…
Can a criminal defense lawyer agree that the fee for the criminal case will be paid only out of any recovery in a related civil rights case?
The opinion concluded yes; because the criminal fee turned on the outcome of the related civil action rather than on the criminal charge itself, it was not a prohibited contingent fee in a criminal ca…
Can a lawyer keep a small fee a title insurance company pays for furnishing 'back title evidence' when applying for the client's title insurance?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may not keep the commission; it must be disclosed to the client and credited or remitted to the client, because retaining it would be an unreasonable, arbitrary fee, t…
Can a company that uses its own salaried in-house lawyer to foreclose mortgages claim part of that lawyer's salary as a recoverable legal fee from the borrower?
The opinion concluded it is not improper; a thrift institution may claim the portion of its salaried in-house lawyer's salary attributable to a foreclosure as a legal fee, because the lawyer never bec…
Can an incoming partner pay the existing partners more than the firm's physical assets are worth, and then share in fees the firm collects after admission for work done before it?
The opinion concluded that admitting a new partner who pays more than the fair market value of the firm's physical assets is not a prohibited sale of a law practice, and the new partner may share in f…
Can a lawyer collect a contingent fee that exceeds the attorney's fees the court awarded, up to the agreed one-third of the recovery?
The opinion concluded that, absent a statutory cap, a contingent-fee agreement may yield a fee larger than the court's fee award; but if the court awards more than the contract amount, the lawyer is l…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Illinois State Bar Association 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.