Referral fee rules · Puerto Rico
Referral fees in Puerto Rico
Regla 1.5(e), Reglas de Conducta Profesional de Puerto Rico (effective Jan. 1, 2026) · Proportional work or joint responsibility
Puerto Rico's new Rules of Professional Conduct took effect January 1, 2026, repealing the 1970 Codigo de Etica Profesional. New Regla 1.5(e), adapted from the ABA Model Rules, permits division of fees between lawyers who do not practice in the same office only if the division is in proportion to the work performed by each lawyer or all have assumed joint responsibility for the representation, the client agrees, including the share each lawyer will receive, with the agreement ratified in writing, and the total fee is reasonable.
What Puerto Rico requires
- • Division proportional to work performed OR joint responsibility assumed by all lawyers
- • Client agrees to the arrangement, including each lawyer's share
- • Agreement ratified in writing
- • Total fee is reasonable
- • New rules replaced the 1970 canons effective Jan. 1, 2026
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.
Members can draft this in a minute
The member tool takes both lawyers' jurisdictions, checks the division against each rule, flags anything that would not hold up, and drafts the agreement and the client consent. Membership is free.
Jurisdictions with a similar rule
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