Attorney referral fee rules by state, from each official rule

Lawyers in different firms can usually split a fee, but each state sets terms. Most use the ABA test: the split follows each lawyer’s work, or each takes joint responsibility, and the client agrees in writing. Some states drop that test; Florida caps the secondary lawyer’s share in contingent-fee cases. Paying a non-lawyer for a referral is tightly limited.

Key facts

• 51 jurisdictions: all 50 states and DC, read in the official rules text on October 27, 2026.
• 47 of 51 fee-split rules verified at the official source; not verified: Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
• 27 use the ABA test: split by the work each lawyer does, or with joint responsibility.
• 12 use neither test: they ask for the client’s agreement and limit the total fee, each in its own words.
• 27 require the client’s agreement in writing, and 22 require telling the client each lawyer’s share.
• 28 keep the exception for reciprocal referral agreements, and 15 the one for small thank-you gifts.

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When can lawyers in different firms split a fee?

In most states, when three things are true: the split follows the work each lawyer does or each lawyer takes joint responsibility for the case, the client agrees, and the total fee is reasonable. That is the shape of the ABA’s Model Rule, and the table below shows where each state keeps it, changes it or drops a part of it.

“Joint responsibility” means each lawyer takes on responsibility for the whole representation, not only their own part. Some states explain it in their comments; Maryland’s, for example, compares it to the responsibility of partners. Read your state’s comment before relying on it.

Which states don’t use the ABA test?

About a dozen states drop the work-or-responsibility test. They ask for the client’s agreement (in writing in some states) and set a limit on the total fee, with the exact wording varying by state. Kansas says a division “may include a portion designated for referral of a matter” (Kansas Rule 1.5(g)). Massachusetts allows “a referral fee” if the client is told up front and consents in writing. California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Oregon and Virginia also have no proportion test; California adds a written agreement between the lawyers and written disclosure to the client.

Others are stricter. Hawaii wants both a proportional split and joint responsibility. Louisiana requires each lawyer to render “meaningful legal services.” Arizona allows a split only between firms jointly working on the matter.

Does Florida cap referral fees?

Yes, in contingent-fee cases. Florida’s Rule 4-1.5 gives the lawyer with primary responsibility at least 75% of the fee and the lawyer with secondary responsibility no more than 25%, unless a court approves a different split where the lawyers share the work substantially equally (The Florida Bar, Chapter 4). Florida also requires a closing statement showing each lawyer’s fee.

How must the client agree?

The ABA wording, followed by most states, says the client agrees to the arrangement, “including the share each lawyer will receive, and the agreement is confirmed in writing.” Some states go further. Texas requires the client’s written consent before the referral, naming each lawyer’s share (Texas Rule 1.04(f)). New Hampshire and Arizona want a writing the client signs.

Some ask less. Kansas, Michigan and Pennsylvania require only that the client be told and not object, with no writing named.

The table: every state and DC

Read across a row for one state. “Fee split” is the state’s version of the ABA model rule on dividing a fee between firms; “Referral pay” is its version of the model rule on paying anyone for recommending a lawyer. Each rule links the official text we read, and a “U” marks a rule we could not read at an official source, so the row says nothing about it.

The conclusion from the table: a written client agreement and a reasonable total fee satisfy the core of the rule in most states, but the share disclosure, the timing and the caps differ, so check the row for every state involved.

What can a lawyer pay for a referral?

Very little, outside fee splits with other lawyers. Nearly every state bans giving “anything of value” for a recommendation, then lists exceptions: the cost of ads, the usual charges of a qualifying referral service or legal service plan, and buying a practice. Many states add non-exclusive reciprocal referral agreements, where the client is told, and small thank-you gifts that aren’t payment.

The lists differ more than the fee rules. In many states, including New Jersey, Missouri and Kansas, the rule allows no reciprocal agreements or gifts. New Hampshire lets a lawyer pay only an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) organization, not other referral services. Illinois regulates lead generators and directories as “intermediary connecting services.” Arizona deleted its ban in 2021, and Utah’s Rule 7.2 is reserved.

What changes soon?

Utah adopts a new Rule 5.8 on November 1, 2026. It lets lawyers share a fee only if “the client agrees to the arrangement, including the share each lawyer will receive, and the agreement is confirmed in writing,” and the sharing doesn’t raise the total fee (Utah Supreme Court). Our record shows the rules in force on the day we read them, and we will update Utah once the rule takes effect.

How did we build this?

We read each state’s rules of professional conduct at the official source, on the date shown in the data: the state supreme court, the state bar’s published copy, the legislature’s code, or the official publisher the court links to. Every filled cell carries a short verbatim quote, string-checked against the text we fetched. Summaries by law firms and directories were used only to find the official page.

Two rules could not be read at an official source that day: Colorado’s fee-split rule (the court posts only rule-change orders) and Oklahoma’s (the court’s site served a human-verification page). Those cells are blank and marked U rather than guessed.

The data is free under CC BY 4.0, as CSV and JSON, in our data catalog and through our API and MCP server.

What this means for your firm

• Use one referral-fee agreement template that meets the strictest rule you work under: names every lawyer, states each share and the basis, and is signed by the client before the work starts.
• Keep referral relationships non-exclusive and disclosed. That is the condition for reciprocal referral agreements in every state that allows them.
• Don’t let a marketing contract look like a referral fee. Flat fees for advertising are generally treated as an ad cost; payment that rises with signed cases is the arrangement many bar opinions question. Check your state’s opinions first.

We handle your state’s ad rules for you. See where your firm stands, or get a free review of your ads and search.

Reviewed by our rules reviewer. Marketing information, not legal advice. Read the rule text and your state bar’s ethics opinions, and ask your own counsel, before you agree a fee split or pay for a referral.

Data. The rows on this page are the referral-fee dataset; the bar opinions on paying vendors are in the ethics opinions dataset.