|
RICHMOND COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
OPINION # 1
October 25, 1988.
| TO: |
|
John A. Passarello, Jr. President, R.C.B.A. |
| |
|
|
| FROM: |
|
Wayne M. Ozzi
Chairman, Professional Ethics Committee |
At the Board of Directors Meeting of October
19, 1988, the question arose as to whether it was proper for
a lawyer retained through the Bar Association s referral service
to return a portion of his fee to the latter.
Although you
did not give me a specific direction to look into the matter,
I took it upon myself to do some research into the question.
I refer you to Disciplinary Rule 2-103(B) which provides,
in pertinent part:
| |
“A lawyer shall not compensate or give
anything of value to a person or organization to recommend
or secure hie employment by a client, or as a reward for having
made a recommendation resulting in his employment by a client,
except that he may pay the usual and reasonable fees or dues
charged by any of the organizations listed in DR 2-103(D).”
(emphasis added) |
DR 2-103(D) lists, among other organizations,
a “lawyer referral service operated, sponsored, or approved
by a bar association.”
On this topic, DR 2-103(0) provides:
| |
“A lawyer shall not request a person or organization to recommend
or promote the use of his services or those of his partner
or associate, or any other lawyer affiliated with him or his
firm, as a private practitioner, except that:
(1) He may request referrals from a lawyer referral service
operated, sponsored, or approved by a bar association
and may pay its fees incident thereto.” (emphasis
added) |
ABA Ethics Opinion #291 (1956) permits the following:
| |
“Registrants (of a lawyer referral plan) may be required to contribute
to the expense of operating it by a reasonable registration
charge or by a reasonable percentage of fees collected by
them.” There is one caveat to this arrangement: it would be
improper for an attorney associated with the direction or
administration of a lawyer referral service to accept referrals
from that service. (N.Y. State Bar Assn. Op. #426) |
It is therefore
my opinion, as Chairman of the Professional Ethics Committee,
that the Richmond County Bar Association can properly receive
fees from local attorneys for participating in its referral
panel. The fees can take the form of either 1) a flat fee
to cover administration and overhead expenses or 2) a reasonable
percentage of the fee received by the attorney ultimately
retained.
| |
Respectfully submitted
Wayne M. Ozzi
Chairman, Professional
Ethics Committee |
|
