WY · rules
Wyo. R. Prof. Conduct 5.4
Professional Independence of a Lawyer
(a) A lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a nonlawyer, except
that:
(1) an agreement by a lawyer with the lawyer’s firm, partner, or associate
may provide for the payment of money, over a reasonable period of time after
the lawyer’s death, to the lawyer’s estate or to one or more specified persons;
(2) a lawyer who purchases the practice of a deceased, disabled, or
otherwise unavailable lawyer may, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.17,
pay to the estate or other representative of that lawyer the agreed-upon
purchase price;
(3) a lawyer who undertakes to complete unfinished legal business of a
deceased, disabled, or otherwise unavailable lawyer may pay to the estate of
the deceased lawyer or other representative of that lawyer that proportion of
the total compensation which fairly represents the services rendered by the
deceased, disabled, or otherwise unavailable lawyer;
(4) a lawyer or law firm may include nonlawyer employees in a compensation or retirement plan, even though the plan is based in whole or in part
on a profit-sharing arrangement; and
(5) a lawyer may share court-awarded legal fees with a nonprofit organization that employed, retained or recommended employment of the lawyer
in the matter.
(b) A lawyer shall not form a partnership with a nonlawyer if any of the
activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.
(c) A lawyer shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays
the lawyer to render legal services for another to direct or regulate the lawyer’s
professional judgment in rendering such legal services.
(d) A lawyer shall not practice with or in the form of a professional
corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit, if:
(1) a nonlawyer owns any interest therein, except that a fiduciary representative of the estate of a lawyer may hold the stock or interest of the
lawyer for a reasonable time during administration;
(2) a nonlawyer is a corporate director or officer thereof or occupies the
position of similar responsibility in any form or association other than a
corporation; or
(3) a nonlawyer has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a lawyer.
History
History: Amended April 11, 2006, effective July 1, 2006; amended August 5, 2014, effective October 6, 2014; amended February 6, 2024, effective April 15, 2024. Comment. — [1] The provisions of this Rule express traditional limitations on sharing fees. These limitations are to protect the lawyer’s professional independence of judgment. Where someone other than the client pays the lawyer’s fee or salary, or recommends employment of the lawyer, that arrangement does not modify the lawyer’s obligation to the client. As stated in paragraph (c), such arrangements should not interfere with the lawyer’s professional judgment. [2] This Rule also expresses traditional limitations on permitting a third party to direct or regulate the lawyer’s professional judgment in rendering legal services to another. See also, Rule 1.8(f) (lawyer may accept compensation from a third party as long as there is no interference with the lawyer’s independent professional judgment and the client gives informed consent). Definitional Cross-References “Firm” and “Law firm” See Rule 1.0(d) “Partner” See Rule 1.0(h)
Provenance
- Source
- wyocourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
4808c105acc39b09c6f6cafdeed6144a620381229017d4311ffcd27857a0a5fc
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