Ezel / Ethics Opinions / ABA
ABA 2000-07-07

Can a lawyer let clients pay their legal fees with a credit card?

Short answer: Yes. The opinion withdrew four older opinions that had restricted credit-card payment of legal fees, concluding that the advertising provisions of the 1983 Model Rules left lawyers free to permit or encourage clients to pay fees and expenses by credit card, without advance bar approval.
Currency note: this opinion is from 2000
Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later opinions or rule amendments may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Disclaimer: Advisory only. Not binding precedent.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official ethics opinion. The original opinion (linked at the bottom of this page, or PDF in the sidebar) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original ethics opinion (PDF)

ABA Formal Opinion 00-419: Credit Card Payment of Legal Fees

Short answer: The opinion withdrew four earlier ABA opinions that had restricted credit-card payment of legal fees, concluding that the advertising provisions of the Model Rules adopted in 1983 rendered those restrictions inapplicable and left lawyers free to permit or encourage clients to pay legal fees and expenses by credit card.

Disclaimer: This is an advisory ethics opinion. Advisory opinions are not binding; they interpret the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct and are persuasive authority. This summary is for research purposes only and is not legal advice. Verify current rules before acting on any specific guidance.

About this page: The plain-English summary and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official opinion. We do not reproduce the opinion text on this page; follow the linked source for the official text, which controls.

Plain-English summary

The committee acted on recurring inquiries to the Association's ETHICSearch service about whether lawyers could let clients pay legal fees and expenses by credit card. Reviewing its earlier opinions on the subject, it found that "the advertising provisions of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, adopted in 1983, render inapplicable prohibitions or requirements that were contained in" Formal Opinion 338 (1974), Formal Opinion 320 (1968), Informal Opinion 1120 (1969), and Informal Opinion 1176 (1971).

The committee traced how the older opinions had evolved. Formal Opinion 338 had already rejected the earlier view that credit cards could be used only for merchandise and non-professional services, "accept[ing], per se, the propriety of using credit cards to pay legal fees." But Opinion 338 had carried forward from Formal Opinion 320 a set of requirements, such as advance bar approval of credit-card plans, that the committee found "are not justified by the present-day Model Rules of Professional Conduct."

Measured against the current Rules, those conditions no longer held. Because the Model Rules "require only that any advertising materials used by a lawyer not be false, fraudulent, or misleading, and because they do not require any advance approval by a bar association for a lawyer's participation in a credit-card plan, the Committee hereby withdraws each of the four opinions referred to above." The opinion grounded its reasoning in the advertising provisions of the Model Rules without citing a numbered rule.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000, before the American Bar Association's adoption of the 2002 (Ethics 2000) revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did this opinion permit clients to pay legal fees by credit card?

A: Yes. The committee concluded the Model Rules left lawyers free to permit or encourage clients to use credit cards for legal fees and expenses, and withdrew the older opinions that had restricted the practice.

Q: Was advance bar approval of a credit-card plan still required?

A: No. The opinion found that the requirement of advance bar-association approval, carried forward from Formal Opinion 320, was not justified by the present-day Model Rules.

Q: Which prior opinions did this one withdraw?

A: Formal Opinions 320 (1968) and 338 (1974) and Informal Opinions 1120 (1969) and 1176 (1971).

Background and rules framework

The opinion's reasoning rested on the advertising provisions of the Model Rules adopted in 1983, specifically the requirement that a lawyer's advertising materials "not be false, fraudulent, or misleading," which is the operative standard of Model Rule 7.1. The committee did not cite a numbered rule; its conclusion followed from comparing the old conditions against the current advertising regime. Because the opinion predated the 2002 revisions, it applied the Rules as they then stood.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

  • ABA Model Rule 7.1 (communications must not be false, fraudulent, or misleading): the advertising standard the opinion invoked, not cited by number in the text

Other opinions cited (all withdrawn by this opinion):

  • ABA Formal Op. 320 (1968) (Legal Fee Finance Plan)
  • ABA Formal Op. 338 (1974)
  • ABA Informal Op. 1120 (1969)
  • ABA Informal Op. 1176 (1971)

See also

Source