§ discipline

Fair, reasonable and lawful fees client

The lawyer's remuneration must be fair and reasonable, must comply with any restrictions on contingency or percentage charging, and the lawyer must not propose or accept an illegal fee arrangement.

75 cases 44% strike-off avg suspension 7.0 mo avg fine 2,118 13 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 1.2; CCS 5.1(d) partial 33 cases
1.2 You do not abuse your position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others. 5.1 ... (d) you do not receive payments relating to a referral or make payments to an introducer in respect of clients who are the subject of criminal proceedings.

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC9.7 partial 9 cases
rC9.7 you must only propose, or accept, fee arrangements which are legal.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.3.2(g) partial
only propose, or accept, fee arrangements which are legal

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 12.2 partial 9 cases
A solicitor must not do anything: (a) calculated to dispose a client or a third party to confer on the solicitor, either directly or indirectly, any benefit in excess of the solicitor's fair and reasonable remuneration for legal services provided to the client, or (b) that the solicitor knows, or ought reasonably to anticipate, is likely to induce the client or third party to confer such a benefit and is not reasonably incidental to the performance of the retainer.

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr22,46 partial 2 cases
A barrister must not set the level of an acceptable fee, for the purposes of Rule 21(c), higher than the barrister would otherwise set if the barrister were willing to accept the brief, with the intent that the solicitor may be deterred from continuing to offer the brief to the barrister. ... exercise any undue influence intended to dispose the client to benefit the barrister in excess of the barrister's fair remuneration.

Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch10 — Excessive fees; Restriction on calculation of charges as a percentage of damages strong 1 case
it is an implied term of the contract between the solicitor and the client that the remuneration of the solicitor will be fair and reasonable... In contentious matters, except debt collection matters, a solicitor may not calculate charges as a specified percentage or proportion of any damages or other monies that may become payable to the client.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 12.7; Rule 12.4 strong 1 case
Barristers may not accept instructions on condition that payment will be subsequently fixed as a percentage or other proportion of the amount awarded other than in relation to a matter seeking only to recover a debt or liquidated demand.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon IV(e); Canon IV(f) strong 9 cases
(e) An Attorney shall not enter into an agreement for or charge or collect an illegal fee. (f) The fees that an Attorney may charge shall be fair and reasonable and in determining the fairness and reasonableness of a fee any of the following factors may be taken into account

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.4.2 g) partial
Members must: ... g) only propose, or accept, fee arrangements which are legal.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 3.6-1; r 3.6-2 strong
3.6-1 A lawyer shall not charge or accept any amount for a fee or disbursement unless it is fair and reasonable and has been disclosed in a timely fashion. [3.6-2 Subject to rule 3.6-1, except in family law, Criminal Code (Canada) or any other criminal or quasi-criminal matters, a lawyer may enter into a contingency fee agreement in accordance with the Solicitors Act and the regulations made under it.]

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 3.6-1 strong 3 cases
A lawyer must not charge or accept a fee or disbursement, including interest, unless it is fair and reasonable and has been disclosed in a timely fashion.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 9 strong
A lawyer must not charge a client more than a fee that is fair and reasonable for the services provided, having regard to the interests of both client and lawyer and having regard also to the factors set out in rule 9.1.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.11 strong 9 cases
The fees you charge must be fair and reasonable in all the circumstances.

Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗

SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 17 (Professional fees and costs); r 18 (Contingency fees prohibited) partial
17 Professional fees and costs; 18 Contingency fees prohibited

Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 4.13 / Principle 4.17 strong
A solicitor must not overcharge. ... A solicitor may not enter into a contingency fee arrangement for acting in contentious proceedings: see section 64 of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap. 159).

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 9.1(b); para 9.9 strong
in default of such agreement between the barrister and the instructing person, a proper and reasonable sum in all the circumstances. ... A practising barrister may not accept a brief or instructions on terms that payment of fees shall depend upon or be related to a contingency.

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

9 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.