Advisory Opinion: 1332

Year Issued: 1990

RPC(s): RPC 5.4

Subject: Division of fees with collection agency; lawyer for collection agency paid monthly retainer and one-half fee awarded to client by court.

The Committee understood the facts of your inquiry to be that your client, a collection agency, paid you a monthly retainer for a case. On matters that go to court, you would normally be awarded attorney's fees between $100 and $300, and you would remit one-half of the court awarded fees to your client. The Committee was of the opinion that this would be an improper fee sharing prohibited by RPC 5.4. The Committee was also concerned that such conduct might involve misleading representations to the court regarding your fees.

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.