Can a lawyer join a for-profit private referral service that is not sponsored or approved by a bar association?
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This page answers the general question as of 1994. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current New York Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A law firm was approached by a for-profit referral service, organized to refer doctors, lawyers, and accountants, that advertised in print and on radio and routed callers from an "800" number to member attorneys for either a monthly listing fee plus per-referral charges or a per-referral fee up to a cap. No bar association operated, sponsored, or approved it. The committee concluded a lawyer may not participate.
The committee started from DR 2-103(B), which generally bars a lawyer from paying or giving anything of value to a person or organization to recommend or obtain employment or as a reward for a recommendation resulting in employment. DR 2-103(D) lists the narrow exceptions: legal aid and public defender offices, military legal assistance offices, lawyer referral services operated, sponsored, or approved by a bar association, and certain bona fide organizations that furnish or pay for legal services to their members. Although EC 2-15 recognizes that referral services can help clients find qualified counsel, a for-profit private corporation whose purpose is to advertise and solicit clients in exchange for referral fees, and which fits none of the DR 2-103(D) categories, is not a service from which a lawyer may accept referrals for a fee.
The committee added a separate concern under DR 2-103(C): a lawyer may not request a person or organization to recommend the lawyer's services other than through advertising not proscribed by DR 2-101. Unless the lawyer knows the nature, extent, and content of the service's advertisements, the lawyer cannot ensure they comply with the DR 2-101 advertising requirements, citing N.Y. State 597 (1989) and parallel out-of-state opinions. The committee answered the question in the negative.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1994, before New York replaced the Code of Professional Responsibility (the Disciplinary Rules cited here) with the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, effective April 1, 2009. Payment for recommendations and referral services is now addressed by Rule 7.2, and the rules governing referral services have changed. 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: Can a lawyer pay to be listed with a for-profit referral service?
A: The committee concluded a lawyer may not pay a fee to participate in a for-profit private referral service that no bar association operates, sponsors, or approves, because it falls outside the DR 2-103(D) exceptions.
Q: Which referral services could a lawyer pay to join?
A: The committee identified the DR 2-103(D) categories: legal aid, public defender, and military legal assistance offices, bar-association-operated or approved referral services, and certain bona fide organizations furnishing legal services to members.
Q: Why does the service's advertising matter?
A: The committee explained that under DR 2-103(C) and DR 2-101 a lawyer cannot ensure a for-profit service's ads comply with the advertising rules unless the lawyer knows their nature, extent, and content.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied New York Code DR 2-103(B) (paying for recommendations), DR 2-103(C) (requesting recommendations outside permitted advertising), DR 2-103(D) (exceptions for approved referral services), DR 2-101 (advertising), and EC 2-15 (value of referral services). The analysis corresponds to ABA Model Rule 7.2 (communications concerning a lawyer's services, including referrals and the limits on paying for recommendations).
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- New York Code DR 2-103(B), DR 2-103(C), DR 2-103(D), DR 2-101; EC 2-15 (applied in the opinion)
- MR 7.2 (communications concerning a lawyer's services; referrals)
Other opinions cited:
- N.Y. State 597 (1989): generic "800-number" advertising arrangement that is a prohibited referral
- Iowa 91-18 (1991); Kentucky E-344 (1991); South Carolina 86-13(B) (1986): no participation in for-profit referral services
- Alabama 86-78 (1986); Nebraska 87-2 (1987): participation allowed in not-for-profit referral services
See also
- NYC Bar Formal Op. 1994-2: Part-Time Administrative Law Judge and a Referral Fee
- No sibling opinions yet indexed.
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