Splitting fees and paying for clients: what the Code of Ethics allows and prohibits
Collaborations between firms, partner departures and agreements with other professionals all raise the same question: can fees be split? The Code of Ethics sets a general rule and four exceptions, and prohibits paying commissions for bringing in clients unless the client is informed.
One firm refers a matter to a specialist one and wants a share of the fees. A partner leaves the firm and agrees a compensation. A consultancy recommends clients in exchange for a commission. All three are regulated by the Code of Ethics of the Spanish Legal Profession, approved by the Plenary of the General Council of the Legal Profession on 6 March 2019.
The general rule: the one who directs the matter is paid
Article 14.2 establishes that fees must be received by whoever directs the matter, and considers the splitting and distribution of fees contrary to the dignity of the profession, except in four cases.
The four exceptions
| Letter of Art. 14.2 | Case in which splitting is allowed |
|---|---|
| a) | When it responds to effective legal collaboration |
| b) | When there is collective practice of the profession in any of the authorised associative forms |
| c) | When it concerns compensation to someone who has left the collective firm |
| d) | When it is amounts payable to a retired colleague or to the heirs of a deceased one |
Effective collaboration
Letter a) is the one of most interest to collaborations between firms. The key word is effective: the split is justified by the legal work each contributes, not by the mere fact of having brought the matter.
A partner's departure
Letter c) covers compensation to the lawyer who leaves a collective firm. For a firm, it is one more reason to regulate in the partners' agreement how that compensation is calculated. Lawyers' departures also have other rules, which we review in the guide to lateral moves and professional ethics.
Sharing fees with a non-lawyer
Article 14.3 prohibits sharing fees with a person outside the profession, with two exceptions:
- Collaboration agreements with other professionals, signed in accordance with the General Statute of the Spanish Legal Profession.
- Cases where the client is informed of the circumstance.
For multidisciplinary firms or those collaborating with advisers, economists or engineers, the rule requires formalising the collaboration or informing the client. If the firm is a multidisciplinary professional company, its regime should also be reviewed, as we explain in the guide to the professional law firm company.
Paying for a referred client
Article 18 prohibits paying, demanding or accepting commissions, or any other kind of compensation to third parties, for having sent a client or recommended possible future clients, unless the client is informed of the circumstance.
The rule reaches arrangements such as platforms that refer clients, commercial collaborators or professionals from other sectors who recommend the firm. All require, at a minimum, transparency with the client.
Other rules in Article 14
The same article recalls obligations that accompany any fee agreement:
- Freedom to agree the amount and the regime, respecting ethical and unfair competition rules (14.1).
- Prior information on the approximate amount or the bases for determining it, and on the consequences of an order to pay costs (14.1).
- Settlement of the fees and of any advance on account received is mandatory (14.1).
- Fee note with the legal and tax requirements (14.4), and the possibility of a pro forma fee note (14.5).
The criteria that bar associations may set on fees are another matter, which we cover in the guide to guideline fees.
Recommendations
- Document in writing any collaboration in which fees are split, with the work each firm contributes.
- Regulate in the partners' agreement departure compensation.
- Inform the client of any referral commission and any split with non-lawyer professionals.
- Review agreements with client-referral platforms in light of Article 18.
More analysis in Big law firms and lateral moves.
Fuentes
- Consejo General de la Abogacía Española. Código Deontológico de la Abogacía Española, aprobado por el Pleno el 6 de marzo de 2019 (PDF). Accessed 18 October 2026.
The specific data in this article come from the official sources cited.
