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 a Washington law firm make a departing lawyer pay a share of fees from client matters they take with them?
There is no definitive Washington answer. RPC 5.6(a) may not bar every such agreement, but the required fee division should bear a reasonable relationship to the firm's investment and remaining work; …
Can a lawyer pay a non-profit bar association a percentage of the fee for referring clients, and does the referral-service exception allow it?
No. The committee concluded that paying a non-profit bar association a percentage of the fee is prohibited fee-sharing with a non-lawyer under RPC 5.4(a); RPC 7.2(b)(2)'s allowance for a referral serv…
Can a lawyer share fees with, and pay for translation and paralegal work by, a foreign law consultant who refers non-English-speaking clients, and pay a referral fee?
The lawyer may accept FLC referrals and may pay the FLC for translation and paralegal work as a client-borne cost, and may share legal fees with the FLC for foreign-law work under RPC 1.5(e) and APR 1…
Can a Washington lawyer pay or receive a fee from another lawyer purely for referring a client, where the referring lawyer does no work and takes no responsibility?
No. The committee concluded that paying or receiving a pure referral fee between lawyers is prohibited by RPC 7.2(b) and RPC 1.5(e), because it is not proportioned to services and involves no shared r…
Can a real estate brokerage's general counsel provide limited-scope legal services to the brokerage's customers as part of the brokerage's package, paid by salary?
No. The committee concluded the arrangement violates RPC 5.4(a) and (b), which bar fee splitting and partnership with a non-lawyer whenever any part of the activity is the practice of law, even though…
Can a lawyer take a revolving credit line from a financing company using the value of the firm's contingent cases as collateral?
The committee declined to approve the specific venture but said any third-party firm financing must observe three principles: the financier may not direct the lawyer's professional judgment or materia…
When a firm pays an independent contract attorney a bonus tied to how a case turns out, is that a division of fees governed by RPC 1.5(e)?
The opinion concludes that any compensation directly tied to or dependent on the client's payment of a gross fee may be a division of fees under RPC 1.5(e)(1), so a bonus that ties the right to and am…
Can a lawyer provide 'prepaid legal services' bundled into a for-profit real estate company's flat-fee package, where the company collects the fee and pays the lawyer a set amount?
The committee was strongly concerned the arrangement violates the RPCs. The lawyer must still ensure the flat fee is reasonable (RPC 1.5(a)) and run a conflict check before representing each seller (R…
Is paying a contract or temporary lawyer only for the hours the hiring lawyer bills to and collects from the client a 'division of fee' governed by RPC 1.5(e)?
No. The committee concluded that the arrangement does not implicate RPC 1.5(e), which applies to a division of fee between lawyers not in the same firm, because the gross fee the client pays the hirin…
Can a personal injury lawyer pay a nonlawyer marketing and settlement employee a bonus based on a percentage of the settlements that person brings in or negotiates?
No. The committee concluded that compensating a nonlawyer based on a percentage of negotiated settlements is improper fee-splitting under RPC 5.4. The rule's profit-sharing exception (RPC 5.4(a)(3)) a…
Can a Washington lawyer who took a referred wrongful death case share the contingent fee with the referring lawyer, who is licensed in Canada and not subject to Washington's rules?
Yes, the committee concluded the fee may be shared, on condition that RPC 1.5(e)(2) is met: the division is in proportion to each lawyer's services or, by written agreement, each lawyer assumes joint …
Can a lawyer arrange for a CPA to take over, or buy, the lawyer's tax-return practice if the lawyer becomes disabled or retires?
The committee said a lawyer cannot share fees with or form a partnership with the accountant, must avoid facilitating the unauthorized practice of law, and must get each client's informed consent befo…
Can a lawyer go in-house at a marketing company and be paid a salary plus company shares to serve the company's customers?
The committee said no. Being paid a salary plus shares (or share options) by a marketing company to provide legal services to that company's customers would share the lawyer's fees with a nonlawyer in…
Does an insurer's invoice-processing fee that cuts a percentage from each defense bill violate the rules on advancing costs and sharing fees?
Deciding this inquiry together with Opinion 2012, the committee concluded that the insurer's mandatory percentage reduction off every invoice violates RPC 1.8(e) (the lawyer is not fully reimbursed fo…
Can one law firm be designated 'of counsel' to another law firm on its letterhead, and how do the fee-splitting rules apply?
The committee said a law firm may not be designated 'of counsel' to another firm, because that designation is limited to individual lawyers who are active WSBA members with a close, regular, continuin…
Can an insurance company make its defense lawyers take a flat percentage off every invoice and follow billing and litigation guidelines?
The committee concluded that a mandatory across-the-board percentage reduction of every invoice violates RPC 1.8(e) (the lawyer is not fully reimbursed for costs advanced for the client) and RPC 5.4(a…
Can a law firm use a made-up surname trade name, keep a non-working lawyer as a fee-sharing 'silent partner,' or pay a nonlawyer consulting firm based on the firm's increased fee income?
The committee answered no to all three. A firm may not use a trade name that appears to consist of lawyers' surnames when no current or former lawyer of the firm had those names, because of the substa…
Can a lawyer work as a 'risk management consultant' for an insurance broker, reviewing the broker's insureds and advising them, without violating the ethics rules?
The committee concluded it may be ethically possible but the risk of running afoul of the rules is high. Whether the work is the practice of law is a substantive-law question outside the committee's p…
Can a lawyer who referred a contingent-fee case and was then disbarred before settlement still collect a share of the fee from the lawyer who handled the case?
The committee concluded that although the facts pit RPC 5.4(a) (no fee sharing with nonlawyers) against RPC 1.5(e)(2) (fee splitting), RPC 1.5(e)(2) prevails: assuming Attorney #1 performed services b…
Can a law firm pay a non-lawyer lobbyist based on the fees the firm collects from clients the lobbyist refers?
No. The committee concluded that RPC 5.4 bars sharing legal fees with non-lawyers and RPC 7.2 bars paying referral fees for channeling work; any profit-sharing that includes non-lawyers must be based …
May a Washington lawyer join a for-profit website that lists lawyers offering fixed-fee or reduced-rate services?
Yes. The committee concluded that, under RPC 5.4(a) and 7.2(a), a lawyer is not prohibited from joining a for-profit Internet site giving users access to lawyers willing to work for fixed fees or lowe…
Can a lawyer pay administrative fees to a for-profit lawyer referral service in Washington?
No. The committee concluded that, unlike a not-for-profit referral service, RPC 7.2(c) bars a lawyer from an agreement with a for-profit lawyer referral service that requires the lawyer to pay the ser…
Can a lawyer co-own a nonlawyer-owned .com company that markets the firm's legal services online?
The committee identified multiple prohibitions: sharing fees with a nonlawyer is forbidden by RPC 5.4(a) and practicing law with nonlawyers by RPC 5.4(b); a nonlawyer directing the lawyer's judgment i…
Can a law firm hire out its nonlawyer IT staff to other law firms for profit?
Yes. The committee concluded that a firm could provide its nonlawyer computer and IT employees to other firms for profit, provided it complies with RPC 5.4(a) and (b), 5.3, and 1.8(a), and puts measur…
May a lawyer be listed by name on the public website of an organization made up of lawyers and nonlawyers?
Yes. The committee concluded that a membership listing identifying the lawyers is advertising generally permitted by the rules, subject to each lawyer's duty of truthfulness, RPC 5.4's bar on fee-shar…
Is an 'of counsel' lawyer treated as a member of the firm for fee-splitting under RPC 1.5(e)?
The committee concluded that to use the 'of counsel' designation a lawyer must have a regular, frequent, and continuing relationship with the firm such that the lawyer is in fact a member; if so, a fe…
Can a lawyer pay a non-testifying consultant partly on a contingent-fee basis without violating the ban on fee-splitting with nonlawyers?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded that paying a non-testifying forensic consultant an hourly rate, part of which is contingent on success, does not violate the prohibition on sharing legal…
Can a lawyer set up a nationwide internet law firm with members in every state under a trade name?
The committee concluded that specific portions of the proposed nationwide Internet law firm are not in compliance with the RPCs, flagging problems with the firm's trade name (RPC 7.5), members in ever…
Can a lawyer share a contingent fee with another lawyer from a different firm who earlier handled the matter?
The committee concluded that the proposed fee sharing does not appear improper if the portion paid to the other lawyer is proportional to the services that lawyer provided to the estate, the client is…
Can a licensed lawyer own stock in a law firm professional services corporation without being an employee or a practicing shareholder?
The committee declined to answer the share-purchase question as a legal one, but stated that there do not appear to be any Rules of Professional Conduct that prohibit a duly licensed lawyer from ownin…
Can a lawyer hire a paralegal firm to run a branch law office, pay it from case recoveries, and advertise with the paralegal's photo?
The committee concluded that paying a paralegal a share of recoveries is an improper division of fees under RPC 5.4(a), that depending on the supervision the arrangement could be unauthorized practice…
When a lawyer turns down or refers a case because of a conflict and does no further work, can that lawyer still share in the contingent fee?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.5(e), together with RPC 1.8, does not allow a referring lawyer who has a conflict and will not continue to participate to share in the accepting lawyer's contingent …
Is it fee splitting for a lawyer to pay an independent paralegal a flat fee that is then billed to the client as a cost?
The committee concluded that paying an independent paralegal a flat fee as part of the compensation for case work is not prohibited fee splitting with a nonlawyer, provided the lawyer makes reasonable…
Can a personal trust services company collect a lawyer's fee before the lawyer meets the client and refer clients to lawyers who use the company's fee schedule?
The committee found ethical concerns: a trust company obtaining the fee agreement and collecting the fee before the lawyer meets the client implicates RPC 5.4(b), and referring clients to lawyers who …
Can a lawyer share fees with or associate with a nonlawyer who represents Social Security claimants?
The committee concluded the proposed arrangement is barred by the express, unambiguous language of RPC 5.4(a), 5.4(b), and 7.2(c), and that no exception applies even though nonlawyers may legally prac…
Can a lawyer take a share of a nonlawyer estate planning firm's client fees for reviewing the firm's trusts?
The committee concluded the proposed fee split violates RPC 5.4(a) and may compromise the lawyer's independence under RPC 5.4(c), and that if the arrangement is the unauthorized practice of law the la…
Can a lawyer join a preferred-provider program that takes a cut of the lawyer's discounted fees and bills the client?
The committee concluded that an attorney's participation in the proposed preferred-provider program does not meet the minimum standards of the Rules of Professional Conduct, pointing specifically to R…
Can a Washington lawyer give a fixed percentage of a gross fee directly to a charity?
The committee concluded that RPC 5.4(a) prohibits a lawyer from allocating 15% of a gross fee directly to a charitable organization.
Can a lawyer pay a limited practice officer a percentage of the escrow fee for closing work?
The committee was of the opinion that RPC 5.5 does not permit paying a limited practice officer a percentage of escrow fee charges, but that other compensation methods, such as a flat fee per transact…
Can a lawyer take per-project pay from a corporation to do work on behalf of the corporation's clients?
The committee was of the opinion that if the work the lawyer performs is the practice of law, the arrangement may violate RPC 5.4(a) and 5.5(b), but if the work is not the practice of law there is no …
Can a law firm include nonlawyer staff in a profit-sharing plan based on a percentage of firm income?
The committee was of the opinion that a profit-sharing plan under which nonlawyer staff receive a percentage of income after monthly overhead and guarantees to partners is permitted by RPC 5.4(a)(3).
Can a law firm share fees with a lawyer who was later disbarred, including on contingent-fee cases?
The committee was of the opinion that anything legally earned by the disbarred lawyer before the date of suspension or disbarment, whichever came first, could properly be distributed, and that on cont…
Can a lawyer collect on claims owned by a collection-agency client without running into the rule against fee splitting?
The committee was of the opinion that as long as it is clear the lawyer is collecting on claims owned by the client and the fee agreement complies with RPC 1.5, there is no fee-splitting problem and t…
Can a lawyer pay a paralegal out of court-awarded attorney's fees without violating the rule against fee splitting with a nonlawyer?
The committee was of the opinion that the arrangement does not violate RPC 5.4(a) if the nonlawyer is paid on an hourly basis and not as a fractional or percentage share of the attorney's fees, and it…
Can a law firm pay a nonlawyer employee a percentage of the fees from clients they bring in, and have that employee solicit clients?
The committee was of the opinion that paying a nonlawyer a percentage bonus on the gross fees from clients he generated is improper fee splitting that violates RPC 5.4(a) and 7.2(c), and that having t…
Can a lawyer team up with a nonlawyer-owned company to give legal advice to callers of a 1-900 pay-per-call number?
The committee was of the opinion that the arrangement violates RPC 5.4(a) and (b) and 7.2(c), and that the prerecorded advice raises serious competence and malpractice concerns under RPC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3…
Can a lawyer take assignments through a for-profit temporary employment agency that markets the lawyer's availability and is paid by the employer?
The committee answered by referring to and adopting only the part of ABA Formal Opinion 356 (1988) that addresses the specific arrangement described, with the caveat that Washington's conflict-of-inte…
Who owns court-awarded attorney fees when the lawyer is employed by a nonprofit, and can they be deposited into the nonprofit's general account?
The committee was of the opinion that attorney fee awards belong to the client, not the attorney, unless the attorney and the client mutually agree otherwise.
Can a lawyer be retained by a billing or debt collection company to send demand letters to the debtors of the company's clients?
The committee was of the opinion that an arrangement in which a billing and accounts-receivable service retains the lawyer to send letters to the debtors of the service's clients violates RPC 7.3(a)'s…
Can a lawyer take a contingent fee representing a client who was assigned a lawsuit on a contingent fee basis, and can the lawyer share the fee with the assignee?
The committee concluded the lawyer could accept the contingent fee, but could not share the fee with the assignee; it did not address other legal questions such as the assignability of the claim or su…
When lawyers in different firms divide a fee, what does 'joint responsibility' require, and can one lawyer pay another a referral fee?
The committee concluded that 'joint responsibility' under RPC 1.5(e)(2) means legal liability for seeing that the client's work is competently performed, and that RPC 7.2(c) prohibits referral fees.
Can a lawyer advise and litigate for a corporation that buys personal injury claims and bills the lawyer hourly while the corporation controls settlement?
The committee unanimously concluded the proposed arrangement, in which a corporation took assignments of injury claims and the lawyer represented the corporation as assignee while it controlled settle…
Can a lawyer pay part of a consultation fee back to a nonprofit lawyer referral service that sent the client?
The committee concluded the proposed fee split with a not-for-profit lawyer referral service is allowed under the rules so long as the service becomes 'duly authorized' as RPC 1.5(e) requires.
Can a lawyer run a law practice and a separate public-adjusting business at the same time, and what must the lawyer do to keep them proper?
The committee concluded the lawyer may maintain both businesses if they are kept separate enough not to appear related, and if RPC 7.2, 5.4, 5.5, and 1.6 are observed, including making clear when an a…
Can a lawyer share offices with a living-trust marketer who steers buyers to the lawyer and is paid weekly based on how many trusts the lawyer reviews?
The committee concluded the arrangement would violate RPC 5.4(a) and (b) by sharing fees and forming a partnership with a nonlawyer, and RPC 7.2(c) by paying the marketer for recommending the lawyer's…
Can a lawyer consult for a living-trust marketing company and take client referrals from its nonlawyer agents?
The committee concluded the proposed arrangement might violate several rules: RPC 5.3(c), 5.4(a)-(c), 5.5(b), 7.2(c), and 7.3(a), covering supervision of nonlawyers, fee sharing and partnership with n…
Can a Washington lawyer employ a nonlawyer as a lobbyist, include the nonlawyer in a profit-sharing retirement plan, and let the nonlawyer hold stock in the law practice?
A lawyer may employ a nonlawyer lobbyist with proper supervision and include the nonlawyer in a profit-sharing retirement plan, but a nonlawyer may not own stock in a corporation that practices law.
Can a lawyer enter a contingent fee agreement that pays a third-party consultant a referral or finder's fee?
The committee concluded the proposed transaction would be improper under RPC 5.4 because the agreement would provide for a referral or finder's fee to a nonlawyer.
Can a lawyer pay another lawyer to review draft wills without the client's knowledge or consent?
The committee was of the opinion that RPC 1.6 requires client consent before disclosing confidences or secrets to a reviewing lawyer, and that dividing a fee with that lawyer without the client's agre…
Can a law firm pay a consulting firm a capped share of its contingent fees for help on athletes' contracts?
The committee was of the opinion that, as structured, paying the consultant out of the firm's fees is fee splitting with a nonlawyer barred by RPC 5.4, though a separate fee contract between client an…
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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.