78B-3-111. Cause of action against attorney or law firm for referral fee — Exceptions.
| (1) |
As used in this section:
Terms Used In Utah Code 78B-3-111- Person: means :Utah Code 68-3-12.5
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
- United States: includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of America. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
| (a) |
“Attorney” means an individual who is authorized to provide legal services in any state or territory of the United States. |
| (b) |
“Client” means an individual who is provided legal services by an attorney or a law firm. |
| (c) |
“Client referral fee” means any amount paid by an attorney or a law firm to a person that is not an attorney for the purpose of referring the client to receive legal services from the attorney. |
| (d) |
“Law firm” means a person that employs an attorney. |
| (e) |
“Legal services” means any form of legal advice or legal representation that is subject to the laws of this state. |
|
| (2) |
A client may bring a cause of action against an attorney or a law firm to recover a client referral fee if:
| (a) |
the attorney or the law firm pays a client referral fee; and |
| (b) |
the client referral fee was not disclosed to the client before the client paid for, or was obligated to pay for, legal services from the attorney or the law firm. |
|
| (3) |
A client may not bring a cause of action under this section if the client referral fee was paid:
| (a) |
as part of a profit-sharing plan that complies with the requirements of Section 401, Internal Revenue Code; |
| (b) |
to a person that provides marketing services, including pay-per-click advertising, for the attorney or the law firm, and the client referral fee was not contingent on whether the attorney or the law firm retains a client; or |
| (c) |
to a third party debt collection agency, as that term is defined in Section 12-1-11, for the purpose of recovering money owed to the attorney by the client. |
|
| (4) |
Any attorney or law firm that provides legal services to the client in the matter for which the client referral fee was paid shall be jointly and severally liable in a cause of action under Subsection (2). |
| (5) |
This section applies to a cause of action described in Subsection (2) that arises on or after May 5, 2021. |
Enacted by Chapter 128, 2021 General Session
