§ discipline

Disclose referrals, commissions and benefits client

The lawyer must disclose to the client any referral arrangement, commission or financial benefit arising from the instructions, obtain informed consent, and account for it.

60 cases 63% strike-off avg suspension 6.0 mo avg fine 9,100 12 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 5.1; CCS 4.1 strong 48 cases
5.1 In respect of any referral of a client ... you ensure that: (a) clients are informed of any financial or other interest which you or your business or employer has in referring the client ...; (b) clients are informed of any fee sharing arrangement that is relevant to their matter; ... 4.1 You properly account to clients for any financial benefit you receive as a result of their instructions, except where they have agreed otherwise.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC81; rC82; gC124 strong
rC81 If you have a material commercial interest in an organisation to which you plan to refer a client, you must: .1 tell the client in writing about your interest in that organisation before you refer the client; and .2 keep a record of your referrals to any such organisation for review by the Bar Standards Board on request.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.4.3(f); R.9.1 strong
any financial benefit that may be received in the course of acting for the client and whether the attorney-at-law or recognised law entity will account to the client for that benefit, and if so, how

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 12.4.3; 12.4.4 strong 9 cases
12.4.3 receiving a financial benefit from a third party in relation to any dealing where the solicitor represents a client, or from another service provider to whom a client has been referred by the solicitor, provided the solicitor advises the client: (i) that a commission or benefit is or may be payable... and... the client has given informed consent... 12.4.4 ...provided the solicitor has first disclosed the payment or financial benefit to the client.

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules r45 partial
A barrister may not give a commission or gift to any person by reason of or in connection with the introduction of professional work by that person to the barrister.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch10 — Disclosure of commissions strong
If a solicitor is to be paid a commission for placing business with a financial institution, insurance company, stockbroker, mortgage broker or financial advisor, prior disclosure should be made to the client by the solicitor... A solicitor owes a fiduciary duty to their client to account to the client for any commissions in this regard.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon IV(g) partial 1 case
An Attorney shall not pay or accept any fee or reward for merely introducing a client or referring a case or client to another Attorney.

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

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.1.3 g) strong
Members must advise clients of the following: ... g) any financial benefit that may be received in the course of acting for the client and whether the member or firm will account to the client for that benefit, and if so, how.

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

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 3.6-6.1(2); r 3.6-1 commentary [2] strong
3.6-6.1(2) The lawyer who received the referral for which a referral fee is payable shall note the referral fee on the account sent to the client at the time the referral fee is paid or payable and obtain the client's acknowledgement of the referral fee ... [3.6-1 cmt 2: No fee, reward, costs, commission, interest, rebate, agency or forwarding allowance, or other compensation related to professional employment may be taken by the lawyer from anyone other than the client without full disclosure to and the consent of the client.]

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 3.6-1, commentary [2]; r 3.6-6 strong 1 case
The fiduciary relationship between lawyer and client requires full disclosure in all financial dealings between them and prohibits the acceptance by the lawyer of any hidden fees. No fee, extra fees, reward, costs, commission, interest, rebate, agency or forwarding allowance, or other compensation related to professional employment may be taken by the lawyer from anyone other than the client without full disclosure to and the consent of the client. If a lawyer refers a matter to another lawyer because of the expertise and ability of the other lawyer to handle the matter, the referring lawyer may accept, and the other lawyer may pay, a referral fee, provided that the fee is reasonable and does not increase the total amount of the fee charged to the client, and the client is informed and consents.

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 5.9 partial
A lawyer must not directly or indirectly offer to, or receive from, a third party any reward or inducement in respect of any advice given, referrals made, products or services purchased, or any work done for a client. This rule does not apply to arrangements under which a third party has agreed to pay or contribute to normal fees payable by a client with the knowledge and consent of that client.

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

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.8 partial
Where you are consulted about a matter in which you have, or your practice unit has, a personal or a financial interest, the position must be made clear to the client as soon as possible.

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

SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 39 (Touting and referrals); r 40 (Agreement for referrals) partial 1 case
39 Touting and referrals; 40 Agreement for referrals

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 7.04 / Principle 7.03 strong
A solicitor must not make a secret profit but must disclose to his client fully the receipt of any such profit. He may only retain it if the client agrees. ... This Principle also applies to the receipt by a solicitor of, for example, interest on client accounts, commissions received from insurance companies and agents.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.10 partial
A practising barrister must not give a commission or present or make any payment (other than a payment for practice promotion permitted by this Code) to any person for the purposes of procuring professional instructions or rewarding the giving or introduction of professional instructions.

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

60 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.