Los Angeles County Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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When a California client discharges a contingent-fee lawyer and successor counsel settles the case, what must the predecessor lawyer do to substantiate its quantum-meruit fee lien, and how must trust funds be handled while the lien is in dispute?
The opinion concludes that the predecessor lawyer owes a continuing fiduciary duty to the former client and must promptly quantify the quantum-meruit lien (with reconstructed time records or other rea…
May a California lawyer take a contingency fee agreement giving the lawyer the first proceeds of suit, shifting to the client the risk that the defendant's finances will limit recovery?
Yes, the agreement is enforceable if it is in a writing that complies with Bus. & Prof. Code section 6147 and the client provides informed consent based on the lawyer's full and fair disclosure of per…
May a California lawyer and client agree to a contingency fee calculated as a percentage of the combined damages plus court-awarded statutory attorney's fees in a fee-shifting case?
Yes. A retainer that defines gross recovery to include statutory fees and then takes a percentage of the whole is not fee splitting with a non-lawyer under former Rule 1-320(A), because the statutory …
Can a California lawyer agree to pay or indemnify a client for the litigation costs the client may be ordered to pay if the client loses the case?
The committee concluded that an attorney may agree to advance the reasonable expenses of a matter and waive repayment if there is no recovery, and may, either at the inception of the representation or…
Can a California lawyer agree to cap a client's hourly-rate obligation and refund any excess statutory attorney's fees awarded under CCP section 1021.5 to the client without violating the fee-sharing prohibition?
Yes. The opinion concludes that refunding excess statutory fee awards to a client is a refund of an overpayment, not a sharing of an earned fee, and therefore does not violate former California Rule 1…
May a California lawyer accept as a fee for preparing and prosecuting a patent application a percentage of any future profits the patent generates, without complying with the adverse-interest rule for ownership transactions?
Yes. Per the opinion, a contingent right to be paid from future patent profits is not an adverse pecuniary interest under former Rule 3-300 because the lawyer cannot summarily extinguish the client's …
May a California lawyer use an initial engagement agreement that waives the lawyer's fee if the client agrees not to accept any settlement confidentiality clause, but provides for the lawyer's full reasonable fee if the client does accept one?
Yes. Per the opinion, the arrangement does not unlawfully restrain settlement because the client retains the right to settle on any terms and, if a confidentiality clause is accepted, owes only the re…
May a California lawyer charge a client interest on costs advanced on the client's behalf, covering the period from when the lawyer pays the cost to when the client is billed?
Per the opinion, only if the written fee agreement specifically provides for it. The Rules of Professional Conduct do not categorically prohibit such interest, but Bus. & Prof. Code section 6147 and t…
May a California lawyer pay reasonable litigation costs (such as court reporter fees) that the client has refused to pay, without violating Rule 4-210?
The opinion concluded that under former California Rule 4-210, an attorney may advance the reasonable expenses of prosecuting or defending an action notwithstanding the client's refusal to pay such co…
When can a California attorney pay a referral fee to a lawyer who is not a partner or associate, when must the client consent, and does the referral fee have to reflect work the referring lawyer did?
The committee concluded that a referral fee may be paid to an unassociated attorney only if the client consents in writing after written disclosure of the division, the total fee is not increased by t…
Can a lawyer base a contingency fee on both the medical offset the insurer takes and the settlement the client actually receives in an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim?
The committee concluded that an attorney and client may agree to a contingency fee based on both the medical offset taken by the insurance carrier and the settlement actually received, if the contract…
Is it improper for a lawyer to collect past-due spousal or child support on a contingent-fee basis in California?
The committee withdrew its earlier Opinion 263, which had called such a contingent-fee arrangement improper, concluding that the question turned on a doubtful determination of law that was outside the…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Los Angeles County 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.