Referral fee rules · Arizona
Referral fees in Arizona
Ariz. R. Sup. Ct. 42, ER 1.5(e) · Distinctive rule — read carefully
Effective January 1, 2021 (Order R-20-0034), Arizona rewrote ER 1.5(e) and eliminated the ABA requirement that a division be proportional to services or that each lawyer assume joint responsibility. The current rule says two or more firms jointly working on a matter may divide a fee if they disclose to the client in writing how the fee and the responsibility for the matter will be divided, the client consents in a signed writing, the total fee is reasonable, and the division of responsibility is reasonable in light of the client's need for complete and diligent representation. Purely passive referral payments are addressed separately under ER 7.2(b), which still prohibits referral fees except as permitted by rule; the same reform also eliminated ER 5.4, allowing fee sharing with nonlawyers through licensed ABS entities.
What Arizona requires
- • firms jointly working on the matter
- • written disclosure to client of how fee and responsibility will be divided
- • client consent in a writing signed by the client
- • total fee reasonable
- • division of responsibility reasonable for complete, diligent representation
Source: read the rule text
Educational summary, not legal advice. Rules change and several turn on the facts of the matter. Confirm against the current rule text and your own jurisdiction's version before agreeing to divide a fee. Remember that both the referring and receiving lawyer's rules can apply.
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Jurisdictions with a similar rule
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