Does the rule allowing a metropolitan bar association's referral service to charge a percentage fee also apply to a statewide trial lawyers association's referral service?

Plain-English summary

The Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association asked whether it could require participating members in its lawyer referral service to help finance the service by contributing a percentage of fees generated by referrals, the same question the Board had answered for a nonprofit metropolitan bar association in Formal Ethics Opinion 88-F-115. That opinion, citing ABA Formal Opinion 291 and EC 2-1 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, approved requiring participating lawyers to contribute up to ten percent of net referral fees, provided the contributions funded only the program's administrative expenses and participating lawyers did not pass the cost on to clients.

The opinion extended that approval to lawyer referral service programs operated and sponsored by any bar association representative of the general bar of the geographical area in which it exists, not only metropolitan bar associations. Because the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association is representative of the general plaintiffs' trial lawyers bar of Tennessee, the opinion concluded it qualified to require its participating members to contribute to its referral service program on the same terms set out in 88-F-115.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1989, before Tennessee's adoption of the 2003 Rules of Professional Conduct, which replaced the former Code of Professional Responsibility. 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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: Could the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association charge its referral-service members a percentage fee like a metropolitan bar association could?

A: Yes. The opinion held that TTLA, as representative of the general plaintiffs' trial bar of Tennessee, qualified to require its participating members to contribute to its referral service on the terms approved in Opinion 88-F-115.

Q: Did the opinion limit the financing rule to metropolitan bar associations?

A: No. The opinion approved the financing concept for lawyer referral services operated and sponsored by any bar association representative of the general bar of the geographical area in which it exists.

Q: What terms governed the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association's referral-service contributions?

A: The same terms as Opinion 88-F-115: contributions of up to ten percent of net referral fees, used exclusively for the program's administrative expenses, with participating lawyers barred from passing the cost on to clients.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied EC 2-1 of the former Code of Professional Responsibility and ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 291, as already applied in Tennessee Formal Ethics Opinion 88-F-115. The modern analog is Model Rule 7.2 / Tennessee RPC 7.2, which permits a lawyer to pay the usual charges of a qualified lawyer referral service.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct (former Code):

• EC 2-1 (the profession's role in educating the public and facilitating access to legal services). Modern analog: Model Rule 7.2 / Tennessee RPC 7.2

Other opinions cited:

• Tennessee Formal Ethics Opinion 88-F-115 (approving the percentage-fee financing rule for a metropolitan bar association's referral service)
• ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 291 (no impropriety in a bar association requiring referral-service participants to help finance the service)

See also

• Tenn. Ethics Op. 88-F-115: Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service Percentage Fee
• Ohio BPC Op. 1992-001: Bar Association Referral Service Percentage Fees
• ME Ethics Op. 133: Lawyer Referral Service Fee Remittances

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tbpr.org/ethic_opinions/88-F-115a

Original opinion text

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

88-F-115(a) - Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association

BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE

FORMAL ETHICS OPINION 88-F-115(a)

The Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association inquires concerning the propriety of requiring participating members to help finance their lawyer referral service by contributing a percentage of fees generated by referrals.

The Board in Formal Ethics Opinion 88-F-115, citing ABA Formal Opinion 291 and Ethical Consideration 2-1 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, approved the lawyer referral service of a non-profit metropolitan bar association requiring participating members to contribute no more than ten percent of net fees realized from a referral to finance the referral program; provided the contributions are used exclusively to assist with the administrative expenses of the referral program; and provided the participating lawyers do not increase the hourly rate or the percentage of a contingency fee, or in any way pass on the contribution to the clients.

A similar inquiry is made by a non-profit statewide bar association.

The Board approves the concept of financing lawyer referral service programs as expressed in Formal Ethics Opinion 88-F-115 for lawyer referral services operated and sponsored by bar associations representative of the general bar of the geographical area in which the bar association exists.

The Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association is representative of the general plaintiffs trial lawyers bar of Tennessee and therefore qualifies to require its participating members to contribute, as stated in 88-F-115, to its lawyer referral service program.

This 17th day of January, 1989.

ETHICS COMMITTEE:

Thomas H. Rainey

Henry H. Hancock

Edwin C. Townsend

APPROVED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD