Opinion 1975

The Rules of Professional Conduct Committee believes that the terms of the networking and business referral association memberships, including its mandatory requirements of referrals and potential loss of membership if no referrals take place, constitute a reciprocal obligation between the lawyer and the non-lawyer members referring potential clients to the attorney and violate RPC 7.2 because they constitute giving “something of value” in return for recommendation of the lawyer`s services.

The Committee also wishes to warn about the lack of control over how other members of the affinity group describe the lawyer’s services to generate referrals to the lawyer. Such a system raises the potential for violations of RPC 7.1 and 7.3 attributed to the attorney. A review of the networking and business referral association`s membership policies and its statements of goals and purposes from the association`s homepage indicate that membership is likely to result in violations of all three RPCs: 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.

Advisory Opinions are provided for the education of the Bar and reflect the opinion of the Committee on Professional Ethics (CPE) or its predecessors. Advisory Opinions are provided pursuant to the authorization granted by the Board of Governors, but are not individually approved by the Board and do not reflect the official position of the Bar association. Laws other than the Washington State Rules of Professional Conduct may apply to the inquiry. The Committee's answer does not include or opine about any other applicable law other than the meaning of the Rules of Professional Conduct.