2022 Ethics of Co-Counsel & Referral Relationships Audio Replay

Co-counsel and referral relationships are common in law practice. Lawyers associate with other lawyers on cases to gain specialized knowledge required for competent representation in a case. Litigation counsel may seek local counsel on a case in another jurisdiction. Lawyers also refer out business for a variety of reasons, including overflow work or the work is outside of a lawyer’s core competencies. These any many other co-counsel and referral relationships, however, raise substantial ethical and malpractice issues. This program will provide you with a framework for understanding the ethical issues surrounding co-counsel and referral relationships.

• Duty to supervise counsel to whom you have referred work
• Associating with other lawyers or firms to gain competence in specific areas
• Fee splitting in co-counsel or referral relationships
• Liability to co-counsel for breaches of fiduciary duty or malpractice
• Liability for errors of co-counsel
• Duty to inform of malpractice by co-counsel