In Re Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics Docket No. 22-95

The issue raised in this appeal is whether a law firm that concentrates its practice in the field of collections law may, upon receiving checks payable to its clients, endorse the checks and deduct the firm’s contingent fees where the client consents to that practice in the retainer agreement but does not thereafter expressly authorize the deductions with full knowledge of the total amounts collected.

In response to a formal inquiry, the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics (ACPE) concluded that a law firm may not, upon receiving checks on behalf of its clients, endorse the checks in its…