Washington State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Washington State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can two firms share a contingent fee, telling the client the firms are jointly responsible and the split will not increase the client's fee?
The committee was of the opinion that the proposed contingent fee agreement complies with RPC 1.5(c)(2) and 1.5(e) so long as both lawyers sign it; it could not comment on the reasonableness of the to…
Can a lawyer pay a paraprofessional employee a salary calculated from the money received in escrow closings?
The committee was of the opinion that RPC 5.4(a) prohibits paying a paraprofessional employee a salary based on money received in an escrow closing, because such payment would constitute fee splitting…
Must a lawyer-witness disclose to opposing counsel that the lawyer is participating in the representation and sharing in the contingent fee?
The committee was of the opinion that nothing in the Rules of Professional Conduct requires a lawyer to disclose that relationship to the opposing lawyer, while flagging RPC 3.7 and 1.5(e)(2) as affec…
Can a lawyer who refers insurance-related work to a firm and does work for its clients be designated 'of counsel' to that firm?
The committee was of the opinion that, on the facts presented, the use of the term 'of counsel' was probably appropriate, while flagging the fee-splitting restrictions in RPC 1.5 and the conflict requ…
Can a lawyer apply for a Social Security fee and share it with a paralegal who is authorized to represent SSA claimants?
The committee was of the opinion that sharing the fee with the paralegal would be prohibited by RPC 5.4(a), and the paralegal's pay could not be contingent on the outcome, though paying the paralegal …
Can a lawyer join an arrangement where a paralegal company and financial planner refer clients, prepare documents, and split the fee under the lawyer's 'supervision'?
The committee was of the opinion that the proposed arrangement would violate several rules: sharing legal fees with nonlawyers (RPC 5.4, and RPC 5.4(b) if a partnership), paying for referrals (RPC 7.2…
Can a lawyer who is paid a monthly retainer by a collection agency remit half of the court-awarded attorney fees back to the agency?
The committee was of the opinion that remitting half of the court-awarded attorney fees to the collection-agency client would be improper fee sharing prohibited by RPC 5.4, and it was also concerned t…
Can a lawyer give the executrix-client a share of the legal fee instead of her taking an executrix fee, to hide her compensation from another heir?
The committee was of the opinion that the arrangement is prohibited on multiple grounds: its purpose to deceive the client's brother violates RPC 1.2(d), it amounts to prohibited financial assistance …
Can a suspended lawyer still collect a share of contingent fees on cases handled before the suspension?
The committee concluded that a suspended lawyer may be paid his share of a contingent fee for services performed before the suspension, on a quantum meruit basis, based on the value of the services pe…
Can a lawyer team up with a nonlawyer to run a medical-ethics consulting practice and share fees and a joint name?
The committee concluded that whether the consulting work was the practice of law was a legal question it could not decide, but that to the extent the lawyer would be practicing law, the lawyer could n…
Is it fee-splitting with a nonlawyer for a salaried lawyer to keep court-awarded fees but rebate to the employer the salary paid for that case?
The committee concluded that this arrangement was not a splitting of fees with a nonlawyer, and that so long as the fees otherwise complied with RPC 1.5(a) there was nothing ethically improper about i…
After a firm dissolves, can a lawyer audit a former partner's client files in which the lawyer has a financial interest?
The committee concluded that the lawyer first had to determine whether an attorney-client relationship now existed; if it did, the lawyer could access the file, but if not, the lawyer could not review…
May a law firm's buy-out agreement pay a withdrawing shareholder a percentage of fees on the firm's cases?
The committee concluded a buy-out may pay a percentage fee tied to the proportion of work the withdrawing shareholder did on each case, but a blanket percentage of every case would violate RPC 1.5(e).
Can a lawyer pay to produce an informational audio tape for a company's pay-per-call phone line, where the company keeps all the caller fees?
The committee was of the opinion that nothing in the Rules of Professional Conduct prohibits a lawyer from participating, because the lawyer pays only the actual production costs of the tape and nothi…
If a lawyer runs a legal research and writing business serving only law firms, do the fee-splitting, third-party-payment, and conflict rules apply?
The committee was of the opinion that a lawyer whose only clients are law firms is not subject to the division-of-fees rule (RPC 1.5(e)) or the third-party-compensation rule (RPC 1.8(f)); need not dis…
Can a lawyer in a financial service center pay the center based on the lawyer's fees, or must the payment be independent of fees?
The committee was of the opinion that arrangements where the lawyer pays the service center based on the fees the lawyer earns are prohibited fee splitting under RPC 5.4(a); arrangements are permissib…
When a lawyer leaves a firm with a contingent-fee client, may the lawyer pay the old firm the fees the client owed it?
The committee was of the opinion that the lawyer's payment of the fees owed to the former firm would resolve the question of sharing fees between the lawyer and the former firm and so would not be pro…
Can a lawyer work as a salaried business consultant for a corporation and give legal advice to the corporation's clients, who are billed by the corporation?
The committee was of the opinion that if what the lawyer did constituted the practice of law, the arrangement would be prohibited by RPC 5.4(a) as sharing legal fees with nonlawyers; it could not deci…
Can a lawyer enter a proposed contractual relationship with others for handling real estate closings?
The committee was of the opinion that the proposed contractual relationship for real estate closings was permitted. The published opinion is a brief, one-line holding indexed under the rules on nonlaw…
Can a lawyer divide fees under a contract with another lawyer who is about to be suspended from practice?
The committee was of the opinion that a lawyer who is suspended is still entitled to whatever fee the contract provides, but cautioned that in a contingent fee case the suspended lawyer would be entit…
Can a lawyer share a referred fee with the lawyer who made the referral when that referral may create a conflict of interest for the referring lawyer?
It depends on the matter. The committee was of the opinion that the lawyers could enter a reasonable fee-sharing agreement on the original products-liability case, but that on the related negligence c…
Can a lawyer be a salaried employee of a nonprofit that bills its members for the lawyer's legal services?
No. The committee was of the opinion that the arrangement violates RPC 5.4: the lawyer was providing legal services to members of the public who pay dues, not serving as house counsel, so the lawyer w…
Can a lawyer on a mediation team keep acting as the parties' intermediary after the mediation, when the team operates through a nonlawyer mediation service?
The committee was of the opinion that a lawyer acting as intermediary is practicing law and that RPC 5.4(a) prohibits sharing fees with nonlawyers, so the lawyer could act as an intermediary privately…
When a lawyer leaves a firm but keeps a contingent-fee client, can the firm and the lawyer divide the fee by hours worked?
Yes. The committee was of the opinion that where a firm was hired on a contingent fee and the lead counsel left but continued to represent the client, the firm and the lawyer could agree to divide the…
Can a lawyer use 'and associates' in a firm name when the other lawyers are not actually firm associates?
No. The committee concluded that, on the facts presented, RPC 7.5(d) and 7.1 prohibit using 'and associates' in the firm name because the other lawyers are not in fact associates of the firm. It added…
Can a lawyer work through a placement service that places attorneys with firms as independent contractors?
The committee concluded that nothing in the conduct of the described placement service violates RPC 5.4(d). The service did not engage in the practice of law; its sole purpose was to place attorneys a…
Can a lawyer pay a referral fee to another lawyer who refers a case but does no work on it?
Yes. Under RPC 1.5(e)(2) a fee may be divided with a referring lawyer who does no other work if there is a written agreement with the client, each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the represent…
Can one lawyer cover another lawyer's practice, including phones and yellow-page ads, while that lawyer is on sabbatical?
The committee concluded that nothing in the proposed plan, under which one lawyer would maintain the absent lawyer's phones and yellow-page advertising while telling callers the lawyer was on sabbatic…
Can a proposed appointment system for juvenile court cases comply with the rules on conflicts and fee division?
The committee concluded that the proposed appointment program appeared fully consistent with the Rules of Professional Conduct, noting it appeared to account for the conflict-of-interest requirements …
Can a Washington lawyer charge a probate fee set as a percentage of the estate's value and split it with another lawyer?
The committee concluded that a fee set solely as a percentage of the estate's value is not a contingent fee; before any fee-splitting agreement, the lawyer must comply with RPC 1.5(e) on dividing fees…
Can a lawyer bill a client for a contract lawyer's time at a higher rate than the contract lawyer is paid?
The committee concluded that an arrangement in which a lawyer employed a contract lawyer hourly, paid the contract lawyer before billing the client, and charged the client more than the contract lawye…
When lawyers in different firms split a fee in Washington, must they satisfy every requirement of RPC 1.5(e)(2)?
The committee read the semicolons in RPC 1.5(e)(2) to mean that compliance with all of the independent phrases is required when dividing fees between lawyers who are not in the same law firm.
Can two lawyers run an independent law firm out of the offices of a non-law business like a management consulting firm?
On the facts described, the committee unanimously found no ethical impropriety in two lawyers operating an independent law partnership from a management consulting firm's offices, where the law firm k…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Washington 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.