Referrals & fee sharing

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This subtopic is intended for law firms. It covers referrals to the firm and arrangements to share fees. Referrals made by the firm are covered in subtopic: Introductions to third parties.

This subtopic reflects requirements in the SRA Codes of Conduct (Codes) in relation to referral and fee sharing arrangements. Where relevant, this subtopic also refers to requirements under the previous SRA regime.

This subtopic also reflects SRA guidance (which relates almost exclusively to personal injury referral fees).

SRA Standards and Regulations

The SRA's core regulatory requirements in relation to referral and fee sharing arrangements are found in the two Codes of Conduct (the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs, RFLs and RSLs and the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms), which should be read in the context of the SRA Principles.

Referral

There is no definition of referral. Instead the SRA defines the person or entity making the referral, ie the ‘introducer’ (see below).

Introducer

An introducer is any person, business or organisation that:

  1. •

    introduces or refers clients to your business

  2. •

    recommends your business to clients, or

  3. •

    otherwise puts you and...

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