The New York State Bar Association recently joined other states that have found that the use of Avvo’s attorney referral service is impermissible as it violates the professional conduct rules that prohibit sharing fees with nonlawyers or paying a nonlawyer for a referral or recommendation. Chorus
Avvo presents particular problems for the state bars as Avvo collects different fees depending upon the type of case that is referred to an attorney.
The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors is scheduled to consider programs like Avvo at a December 2017 meeting as part of an ongoing attempt to revise the attorney referral rules in Florida. The Florida Bar Rules currently prohibit attorneys from sharing fees with for profit referral companies.
Proposed Advisory Opinion 17-2, which has yet to be drafted, will address whether attorneys may participate in private lawyer referral services, including services such as Avvo. The Florida Bar has solicited comments from Florida Bar members, pursuant to Procedures 6(d) and (e) of The Florida Bar Procedures for Ruling on Questions of Ethics Comments may include issues to be considered, a proposed conclusion, or suggestions for additional types of fee arrangements. Comments will be considered at The Florida Bar’s Fall Meeting on October 13, 2017
To read The Florida Bar’s notice click here click here.
To read more about the other state opinions concerning Avvo check out the informative blog posts at The Professional Responsibility Blog and the Legal Ethics Alert Blogs here and here.
Chorus Chorus Chorus Chorus
