Opinion 1346

Subject: Compensation from third party; proposal by insurance company to pay for lawyers' time to explain its product to clients; duty of insurance company's in-house counsel

The Committee reviewed your inquiry concerning an insurance marketing program whereby your client would pay lawyers' fees for spending one hour explaining to their clients the insurance offered by your client. The Committee was of the opinion that the Rules of Professional Conduct would not permit you to offer this program to lawyers because as in-house counsel, you should reasonably know that this marketing plan presents a substantial likelihood that it would induce some lawyers to violate Rules 1.8(f) and 5.4(c) which would in all likelihood constitute a violation of Rule 8.4(a), which prohibits a lawyer from knowingly assisting or inducing another to violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.

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.