Attorneys Fees Archives - Legal Ethics Advisor

ABA’S Full House: 2019 Annual Meeting in San francisco Results in Mass Resolution Adoption

by Ten Stallings in Advertising Rules, Advisory Opinion, Attorney Client Relationship, Attorneys Fees, Ethics Opinion, Featured, Marijuana, News, Professionalism, Technology. Posted February 22, 2021

On On August 8, 2019, the American Bar Association (“ABA”) held its annual meeting, during which the ABA House of Delegates met with an outlook of nearly 60 resolutions to be decided upon. After two days of deliberation, which included revising and amending the proposed resolutions, 50 were adopted.

California May Join Utah in the Sandbox: Working Group Empowered to Explore Innovation in the Delivery of Legal Services

by Jan Jacobowitz in Attorneys Fees, regulatory sandbox, Rule 5.4 Professional Independence of a Lawyer, Rules of Professional Conduct. Posted May 18, 2020

Last week the California State Bar Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the exploration of a regulatory sandbox approach.

The Thin Line Between “Covering” and “Comingling”

by Katelin Stephens in Attorneys Fees. Posted January 21, 2020

On October 29, 2019, the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics issued an advisory opinion, Opinion 1176, which answers the question of whether a lawyer may “make a nominal deposit of the lawyer’s own funds to avoid having the lawyer’s trust or escrow account closed for inactivity or failure to maintain a minimum balance.”  Covering

ABA Addresses Fee “Tug-of-War”: New Guidance for Splitting Fees in Contingency Cases

by Ten Stallings in Attorneys Fees, Rules of Professional Conduct. Posted July 16, 2019

In June, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released Formal Opinion 487, which provides guidance on fee-splitting arrangements when a lawyer replaces the initial attorney in a contingency matter.

Who’s on Third? A Lawyer’s Obligation to Pay Third-Party Claims on Settlement Proceeds

by Lauren Alvarez in Attorney Client Relationship, Attorneys Fees, Legal Services, Third party claims, Uncategorized. Posted June 18, 2019

Lawyers faced with third-party claims to client funds often are confronted with deciding whether a particular third-party has an interest sufficient to impose an obligation on a lawyer to refrain from disbursing funds to the client.

GoFundMe “Funds” Suspension

by Isabella Falcon in Attorney Suspension, Attorneys Fees, Featured, gofundme, Legal Services, Outsourcing, Professionalism, Rules of Professional Conduct, Social Media. Posted March 4, 2019

A West Virginia attorney’s creation of an inappropriate GoFundMe page, in confluence with other misconduct, resulted in a joint recommendation in which the attorney agreed to a 42 month suspension and a public reprimand.

Indiana Cautions Lawyers About Affiliations with Legal Services Companies and Out-Of-State Law Firms

by Jose Paez in Advisory Opinion, Attorneys Fees, Conflict of Interest, Legal Services, legal services corporations, out of state law firms, Outsourcing, Referral Services, Rules of Professional Conduct. Posted February 27, 2019

The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission recently advised caution for attorneys who may be approached by non-lawyer companies or out-of-state law firms offering an affiliation and fee sharing to provide legal services to Indiana clients.

Fee-Sharing with Non-Lawyers? California is Considering It

by Samantha Iglesias in Attorneys Fees, fee sharing with non lawyers, Legal Services, Professionalism, Referral Services, Rules of Professional Conduct. Posted January 16, 2019

The State Bar of California has convened a 23-member commission, the Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services, to consider how access to justice can be increased with technology.

“HAVE FUN IN PRISON”: Attorney’s Text Found Prejudicial to the Administration of Justice

by Chandler Culwell in Attorney Client Relationship, Attorneys Fees, confidentiality, Legal Services, Professionalism, Rules of Professional Conduct, Technology. Posted January 11, 2019

An attorney was censured by the New Jersey Supreme Courtafter the Disciplinary Review Board determined that his conduct towards a nonpaying client violated ethics rules barring both conflicts of interest and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. PRISON

Texas Bar’s Professional Ethics Committee Advises on Flat Fees

by Dimitrije Canic in Attorney Client Relationship, Attorneys Fees, Ethics Opinion. Posted December 17, 2018

The Texas Bar’s Professional Ethics Committee recently advised that attorneys may renegotiate a flat-fee under certain circumstances with fairness as the overarching guideline.

[…] of a non-binding advisory opinion, as has been the case with other jurisdictions such as, Florida, San Francisco, and Delaware, it is important to note that Ohio went a step further and amended its rule regarding […]

Remote Lawyering: New Jersey and Ohio On Board - Legal Ethics Advisor on Remote Work: San Francisco Bar Association Advice in Ethics Opinion 2021-1
Not all jurisdictions have adopted the Model Rule version of the choice of law rule; seems like there might be a different result in at least some of those states. See, e.g., NY RPC 8.5(b)(2)(i) ("If the lawyer is licensed to practice only in this state, the rules to be applied shall be the rules of this state").

Art Lachman on ABA Opinion 499 Green Lights Lawyers’ Passive Investment in Firms with NonLawyer Ownership