Could a departing lawyer keep an entire Social Security fee check to offset sums owed by the former firm?

Plain-English summary

A lawyer received a Social Security fee check for a matter handled at a former firm, which still owed the lawyer mileage and fees. The lawyer asked about keeping the check as an offset.

The opinion required honesty and forthrightness with the former employer. Beyond that, it placed disposition of the fee under civil law rather than deciding it through ethics rules.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000, before Missouri’s 2007 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Later amendments or opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context and verify current rules before relying on it. The official Rule 4-1.9 and 4-1.10 reference notes identify July 1, 2007 amendments.

Common questions

Q: Did the opinion approve keeping the check as an offset?

A: It did not decide that civil-law question.

Q: What conduct did the opinion require?

A: Honesty and forthrightness with the former employer.

Background and rules framework

The published answer distinguished the honesty obligation from civil-law allocation of the fee and cited no numbered rule.

See also

• Missouri Informal Op. 2019-04: Departing Lawyer Fee Dispute

Source

• Landing page: https://mo-legal-ethics.org/informal-opinion/20000133/

• Rule revision reference: Missouri Informal Opinion 20030007

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

QUESTION: Attorney previously worked for a different firm. There was no employment contract. Attorney was paid a salary, reimbursed for mileage and also received a small share of attorney fees collected on any case in the firm that Attorney handled. Attorney changed firms over a year ago, but is still owed several thousand dollars in unreimbursed mileage and attorneys fees earned. Attorney has made numerous written demands for payment to no avail. While at the previous firm, Attorney handled a Social Security case from beginning to end and was the sole attorney of record. Attorney recently received a check from the Social Security Administration made payable to Attorney alone, which represents the attorneys fees approved by the Court. Attorney would like to keep the check and give the other attorney credit for the money that Attorney is owed. The client signed the petition for approval of attorney fees stating that he agreed to have the fees withheld. Would keeping the check be an ethical violation?

ANSWER: As long as Attorney is honest and forthright with Attorney´s former employer, the disposition of the fee in the Social Security case is a matter for civil law. Other than Attorney´s obligation to be honest, the ethical rules do not address this situation.