ABA Model Rule 7.2: Exceptions, Lead Generators, and Referrals

ABA Model Rule 7.2 governs how lawyers advertise and, in particular, forbids them from paying anyone to recommend their services. The rule then carves out five exceptions: paying the reasonable costs of advertising, paying standard fees to a legal service plan or qualified lawyer referral service, buying a law practice under Rule 1.17, entering a reciprocal referral agreement that meets specific conditions, and giving a nominal thank-you gift that was neither expected nor promised in advance.¹ Everything else in the rule is detail around those two ideas.

What the Prohibition Actually Covers

Rule 7.2(b) says a lawyer may not give, or promise, “anything of value” to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services.¹ “Anything of value” is deliberately broad. Cash is the obvious case, but barter, favorable business terms, and other benefits all count if they’re being exchanged for client recommendations.

Rule 7.2(a) separately confirms that a lawyer may communicate information about their services through any media, so the restriction isn’t about advertising generally. It’s about paying someone else to vouch for you.

When a Mention Becomes a “Recommendation”

The official comment draws the line clearly: a communication is a recommendation when it endorses or vouches for a lawyer’s credentials, abilities, competence, character, or other professional qualities.² A neutral directory listing organized by practice area is not a recommendation. A listing that tells visitors the featured lawyers have been personally vetted or selected for quality is. The language the third party uses controls, not the format or the medium.

The Five Exceptions

1. Reasonable Costs of Advertising

Rule 7.2(b)(1) lets lawyers pay the reasonable costs of advertisements or communications permitted by the rule.¹ This covers billboards, television spots, search engine ads, social media campaigns, website development, print ads, and sponsored directory listings. You are paying for distribution, not endorsement. The television station airs your commercial; it does not tell viewers you’re the right lawyer for them.

“Reasonable” also does real work here. A payment well above what the marketing service is actually worth starts to look like a disguised referral fee, and labeling something an “advertising fee” doesn’t change what it is.

2. Legal Service Plans and Qualified Referral Services

Rule 7.2(b)(2) permits lawyers to pay the usual charges of a legal service plan or a not-for-profit or qualified lawyer referral service.¹ Legal service plans are prepaid or group arrangements where members pay a subscription for access to legal help. Lawyer referral services match people with participating attorneys by practice area and location.

The “qualified” label matters. A qualified service is typically a nonprofit, or one approved by a state regulatory authority. A lawyer who joins a referral service remains responsible for its conduct, so if the service uses misleading marketing or steers clients inappropriately, the participating lawyer can face discipline for the association.

3. Buying a Law Practice

Rule 7.2(b)(3) treats the purchase of a law practice as something other than paying for referrals, even though the buyer is effectively acquiring client relationships.¹ The sale must comply with Rule 1.17, which requires the sale of an entire practice or an entire area of practice rather than selected files.³ The buyer takes on competent representation for all transferring matters along with the practice itself, which is why the transaction is treated as a business acquisition rather than a bounty.

4. Reciprocal Referral Agreements

Rule 7.2(b)(4) allows a lawyer to agree with another lawyer or a nonlawyer professional to refer clients to each other, but only if two conditions are met.¹ The agreement cannot be exclusive — you have to remain free to refer a client elsewhere when that serves them better — and the client has to be told about the arrangement.

These agreements commonly arise between professionals whose clients overlap, such as an estate planning attorney and a financial planner. The rule uses the broad term “nonlawyer professional” and does not limit the categories. What the rule does require is that the arrangement never compromise your independent judgment about what the client actually needs.

5. Nominal Gifts of Gratitude

Rule 7.2(b)(5) lets a lawyer give a nominal gift as an expression of appreciation to someone who recommended them, provided the gift was neither intended nor reasonably expected to be compensation for the recommendation.¹ An after-the-fact gift basket, bottle of wine, or flowers fits. A promised bonus, a percentage of the fee, or any recurring per-referral payment does not, no matter how modest the dollar figure. The rule doesn’t fix a dollar threshold for “nominal.”

Lead Generators: Where the Rule Gets Tested

Online lead generation is where Rule 7.2 creates the most practical confusion. The official comment addresses it directly: a lawyer may pay for leads, including internet-based leads, as long as the lead generator does not recommend the lawyer.² A lead generator crosses the line when its communications state, imply, or create a reasonable impression that it is recommending the lawyer, that the referral is being made without payment, or that the service analyzed the person’s legal problem to match them with the right attorney.

A site that collects contact information from people with legal questions and sells those leads at a flat rate is generally permissible, because it is selling data rather than endorsing anyone. A site that tells visitors it has matched them with the best attorney for their case is making a recommendation, and buying placement on that site creates a Rule 7.2 problem.

The Rule 5.4 Overlap

Any payment arrangement that clears Rule 7.2 still has to clear Rule 5.4, which prohibits lawyers from sharing legal fees with nonlawyers.⁴ A flat monthly fee for advertising or a fixed per-lead charge is a marketing expense. A percentage of the attorney’s recovery paid back to the company that supplied the lead is fee splitting with a nonlawyer, and that is prohibited in virtually every jurisdiction.

The working test: does the amount depend on the outcome of the case or the fee collected? If yes, the arrangement has probably moved from marketing into fee sharing. If the payment is a predetermined amount tied to the marketing service itself, you’re on safer ground.

Who’s Responsible for the Ad

Rule 7.2(d) requires every communication covered by the rule to include the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content. This applies across every medium, from a highway billboard to a sponsored social media post. Omitting it is a separate violation even when everything else about the ad is proper.

Check Your State’s Version

The ABA Model Rules are a template. Each state’s supreme court or regulatory body decides whether to adopt Rule 7.2 and how closely to follow it. Most states have adopted some version, but the specific provisions discussed here vary. Some states impose additional advertising restrictions the model doesn’t contemplate; others use different numbering or fold these provisions into other rules. Before you rely on any particular subsection, confirm it against your own state’s rule, because an exception in the model may not exist in your jurisdiction or may come with conditions your state has added.

1
American Bar Association. Rule 7.2: Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services: Specific Rules
2
American Bar Association. Rule 7.2: Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services: Specific Rules – Comment
3
American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct – Rule 1.17: Sale of Law Practice
4
American Bar Association. Rule 5.4: Professional Independence of a Lawyer