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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Can a California lawyer concurrently be 'of counsel' to a law firm and run a separate solo practice, and use separate business cards and stationery for each capacity?
The opinion concludes the dual capacity is ethically permitted; the lawyer may use separate business cards and stationery for the two practices so long as the relationship satisfies the 'close, person…
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 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 serve as a partner of one law firm and simultaneously as a partner or employee of a second firm and share in the fees generated by both without the disclosure and written-consent process required by former Rule 2-200?
Per the opinion, only if a true common-law partnership or employer-employee relationship exists between the lawyer and the second firm. Following Chambers v. Kay (2002), a joint venture or label-only …
May a California estate-planning lawyer be a salaried employee of a financial-planning company that bills its customers a percentage of their estate covering both the legal work and the company's financial advice?
No. The opinion concludes that the arrangement violates former Rule 1-320 because a portion of the customer's bundled fee is a legal fee shared with non-lawyers, and may also violate Rules 1-310 (part…
May a California workers' compensation lawyer prepay a flat $250 referral fee to another lawyer when the referring lawyer's underlying fee depends on a future award by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board?
Per the opinion, no. Former Rule 2-200(A) permits dividing fees with non-firm lawyers only after the client gives written informed consent to an existing fee, so prepayment before any fee exists canno…
May a California lawyer enter into a contractual arrangement with a non-lawyer-controlled office management company that provides space, staff, bookkeeping, trust-account services, advertising, and other support in exchange for a percentage of the lawyer's fees?
The opinion concluded that the arrangement was permissible only if (1) compensation does not constitute fee splitting with the non-lawyer company, (2) the attorney does not abdicate control over the l…
When a California landlord-attorney refers prospective clients to subleasing attorneys and is paid a portion of the resulting fees, what must the landlord-attorney do under former Rule 2-200, and what restrictions apply to a letterhead that suggests a firm relationship?
The opinion concluded that under former Rule 2-200, a referral fee from a non-firm subleasing attorney to the referring attorney requires written client consent after full written disclosure of the fe…
Under California Rule 1-500, may a law partnership agreement impose a reasonable cost on departing partners who compete with the firm in a limited geographical area?
The opinion concluded that, following Howard v. Babcock, a law partnership agreement may impose a reasonable cost on departing partners who compete with the firm in a limited geographical area; such a…
When a California sole practitioner begins using additional attorneys (employees, contract lawyers, or outside firms) on a client matter, when is disclosure required, and when does Rule 2-200's written consent requirement for fee division apply?
The opinion concluded that disclosure of additional attorneys may be required under Rule 3-500 depending on the circumstances, including whether responsibility is changing, the new attorney is doing a…
Can a law firm pay a year-end bonus, based on a percentage of profits from referred business, to an 'of counsel' attorney who is not a partner or associate and whose tie to the firm is mainly reciprocal referrals, without the client's consent?
The committee concluded that paying a year-end bonus to an 'of counsel' attorney who is not a partner, associate, or shareholder, where the bonus is based on a percentage of profits from business that…
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 pay a paralegal a discretionary bonus for good work without it being an improper sharing of legal fees with a non-lawyer?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may pay a paralegal a bonus where it is not a percentage of the lawyer's fees, is not bargained for based on the fee in a particular case, the paralegal has no ex…
Can a property management firm recoup the cost of a law office it provides free to a lawyer by charging its client partnerships per hour the lawyer works for them, without it being unlawful fee splitting with a non-lawyer?
The committee concluded that recouping the firm's office costs from the clients, apportioned by the lawyer's hours, is not by itself prohibited fee splitting under former Rule 1-320 as long as the cha…
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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.