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referral fees for legal affiliate programs

Moderator from US

lifeinasia is a WebmasterWorld Top Contributor of All Time

joined:Dec 10, 2005
posts:5805
votes: 155

So my understanding is that in most jurisdictions (in the U.S.) lawyers are prohibited from paying referral fees to non-lawyers. Yet I see several law firms doing just that. I'm not talking about LegalZoom or other legal advice sites, but actual law firms.

Any ideas how they are getting around the issue?

piatkow

3:28 pm on June 23, 2016 (gmt 0)

Senior Member from GB

piatkow is a WebmasterWorld Top Contributor of All Time

joined:Apr 5, 2006
posts:3451
votes: 61

Put it through the accounts as "advertising"?

LifeinAsia

4:04 pm on June 23, 2016 (gmt 0)

Moderator from US

joined:Dec 10, 2005
posts:5805
votes: 155

They can call it whatever they want, but that won't fly in an audit. And when they publicly promote their affiliate programs as pay-per-lead...

Did some more research and it "seems" like paying for general leads (like in an affiliate program/lead generation system) seems like it might be okay, although no real ruling has been made.

So it sounds like it's better to charge a flat monthly advertising fee instead of pay per lead.