Lawyer Referrals

If you’ve been conscious for the last few decades, you have undoubtedly been bombarded with (and are undoubtedly sick of) the lawyer ads that jump out of your television, attack you in your car from billboards, and assault you on your electronic devices.

Needless to say, especially in areas of practice where the lawyers try to reach consumers directly, such as personal injury, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, bankruptcy, mass torts, and criminal and traffic offenses, these ads are ubiquitous.

And annoying.

But since the 1970s, they’ve been legal. For my entire legal career, which began in 1990, lawyer advertisements have been an integral part of my professional life.

I advertise too. For many years, I have maintained some advertising on the Avvo website. While not as impactful as they once were, I have gotten many clients in a “business to consumer” manner. Some of those clients became repeat clients, and many had significant cases with catastrophic injuries.

But most lawyers garner a good portion of their clients from places other than “direct to consumer” advertising. In fact, most of my clients come from referrals from other lawyers. And I proudly refer many potential clients to other lawyers. When that happens, the lawyer who takes on the case often shares a portion of the fee with the lawyer who referred it.

Does that seem a little strange? Find out more about why this arrangement works well for all involved, how it is policed ethically, and how it protects clients.

Sharing Fees

Let’s get to the big question many readers have, which is, why can lawyers share legal fees amongst themselves when dentists, CPAs, and financial advisors can’t?

Since many legislators are lawyers, that may have had something to do with how the rules were written. If you refer to your financial advisor a friend who becomes a client, all you may get is a fruit basket or box of candy. If you are a lawyer and refer a case to your friend the lawyer, you might receive a check when the case is over.

It's legal, provided that several boxes are checked: the fee agreement must be in writing, must be reasonable, must be signed by the client, must specify that two (or more) lawyers are sharing a fee on a matter, that both lawyers are financially and ethically responsible, and that the overall fees charged are reasonable. I always confirm that the lawyer with whom I am effectively working as co-counsel has malpractice insurance.

The days of handshake agreements in back rooms are, fortunately, long gone. Transparency in these agreements are now the order of the day.

Another interesting thing is that many types of lawyers don’t share fees. It seems to be commonplace only in a few areas of practice, like personal injury, workers’ compensation, and medical malpractice. This is a practice built mostly on custom and practice. There is nothing against a divorce lawyer sharing a portion of her fee with the lawyer who sent the client to her. It’s just not done very often.

Send Me a Case and I Send You a Check

Many of my cases come from other lawyers. I am proud to take on clients sent to me by lawyers who do not handle injury cases. I treat the clients well, keep the referring attorneys informed of the case status, and always pay out a portion of the fee to them.

I do it happily, because without that referral, that confidence in my abilities, I would have never gotten that case. The clients are always on board with this arrangement, once I explain it to them and they agree to this arrangement in writing. I do the work, maintain contact with the client, advance the costs, and negotiate the case, or take it to trial or arbitration.

I do not get the whole fee, even though I do all the work. And, as I said, this is fair and I happily pay a portion of the fee to the lawyer who sent me the client in the first place. The overall fee charged remains the same; it’s just shared between the lawyers.

I Send You a Case and You Send Me a Check

Occasionally, I receive contact from potential clients who I cannot help. Perhaps their cases are too small for me to handle efficiently, or involve low-end insurance companies with whom I choose not to deal, or maybe they involve areas of practice I don’t handle. In those cases, I have a wide network of close friends and acquaintances to whom I can refer them.

Sometimes, no one can help the injury victim, or they don’t follow up, or there is no case, or nothing happens for other reasons. No problem. I still got them some clarity. And I expect nothing in return.

But once in a while someone contacts me about an area I cannot handle, and I am able to refer them to people who can help them. For example, I choose not to handle medical malpractice cases in-house, due to the extreme costs, the specialized expertise required, and the experience necessary to properly evaluate and win such cases. Out of every one hundred cases I screen in this area, I probably send out only about 50, if that. Of those, perhaps five or so are evaluated by experts, and of those maybe one will become a filed case. And that might not be a winner either.

The prospects of success are very slim. Needless to say, those advertising lawyers get a lot of these cases long before they ever cross my desk.

But if they do, I have a network of superb lawyers to whom I am proud to send them. Fortunately, some of those cases have turned into successful settlements or verdicts, and I’m blessed to be able to share in some of the fees earned. While that is certainly nice, it’s even more satisfying to know that I was able to connect someone who needed help with the right person to give it to them.

Takeaways

• Clients can agree to allow their lawyer to share fees of their case with other lawyers who referred them
• Ethical rules require strict compliance in order for this arrangement to be legal
• I send potential clients to other lawyers and other lawyers send potential clients to me, depending upon expertise, type of law, and other factors

Contact Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Hoffman

As in all cases involving personal injury, auto crashes, dog bites or injuries, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, or other injury and potential liability, if you have been hit by a vehicle immediately get medical treatment, report the crash to police and your own insurance company, and contact a lawyer with expertise in your type of case, such as bicycle accidents or pedestrians hit by cars.

If you've been in an accident and have questions, contact Chicago personal injury attorney Stephen L. Hoffman for a free consultation at (773) 944-9737. Stephen has over 35 years of legal experience and has collected millions of dollars for his clients. He is listed as a SuperLawyer, has a 10.0 rating on Avvo, and is BBB A+ accredited. He is also an Executive Level Member of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.

Stephen handles personal injury claims on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay anything up front, and he only gets paid if you do. Don’t wait another day; contact Stephen now.