Rule 53 Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners

Rule 53 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (RPC) 2023 is about Division of fees. It is under Part VI (Remuneration and Fees) of Chapter 1 (Conduct) of the Rules. It provides as follows:

A lawyer shall not share the fees of his legal services except with another lawyer based upon the division of service or responsibility, provided that —
(a) an agreement by a lawyer with his firm, partner or association may provide for the payment of money, over a period of time after his death, to his estate or to one of more persons ;

(b) a lawyer who undertakes to complete unfinished legal business of a deceased lawyer, that proportion of the total compensation which fairly represents the service rendered by the deceased lawyer ; and

(c) law firm may include non-lawyer employees in retirement plan, even though the plan is based on profit-sharing arrangement.