Is this kind of "kickback" of attorneys' fees illegal?

[hacktheplanet]

I'm in CA.

I work for an employer that does some rather unscrupulous things to their customers. I am in the process of seeking another job and don't particularly care about what happens to my reference with this employer.

The company breaks a couple of CA laws about 250-500 times a day. If you were to sum the criminal fines, it would total in the millions each week. For the sake of this argument, please accept this as fact.

I have found a major law outfit here that has handled a virtually identical case a few months ago. It was handled as a class-action lawsuit. It was a smaller case with less evidence. The defendant settled quickly, and in addition to huge awards for identified plaintiffs, the attorneys received over $2MM in fees.

I am not an eligible plaintiff in my case, or at least I would have a hard time proving it. I have no interest in blackmailing or extorting my employer, and will not mention this to them whatsoever. However, a **mountain** of damning evidence is just a subpoena away, and I don't think this excellent boutique will spend more than a month (if that) in nailing these guys to a wall for their disgusting business practices and obtaining a settlement. I also don't think they'll have any trouble whatsoever finding Joe Plaintiff.

So, would it be illegal for me to hand this case to a law firm (without divulging trade secrets, etc of course) in exchange for a percentage of won attorney fees or other monetary considerations? What information am I able to provide this firm without divulging trade secret? Beyond that, I don't have any kind of contract or confidentiality agreement with my employer.

I know this is a fairly dangerous game, so I'd appreciate any advice I can get. If there is a good reason for me *not* to do this, please tell me why.

 

[divgradcurl]

Well, you might not be in any trouble for suggesting such a payment, but the lawyer could get in a lot of hot water. Fromthe California Rules of Professional Conduct:

"Rule 1-320. Financial Arrangements With Non-Lawyers

(A) Neither a member nor a law firm shall directly or indirectly share legal fees with a person who is not a lawyer, except that:

(1) An agreement between a member and a law firm, partner, or associate may provide for the payment of money after the member's death to the member's estate or to one or more specified persons over a reasonable period of time; or

(2) A member or law firm undertaking to complete unfinished legal business of a deceased member may pay to the estate of the deceased member or other person legally entitled thereto that proportion of the total compensation which fairly represents the services rendered by the deceased member; or

(3) A member or law firm may include non-member employees in a compensation, profit-sharing, or retirement plan even though the plan is based in whole or in part on a profit-sharing arrangement, if such plan does not circumvent these rules or Business and professions Code section 6000 et seq.; or

(4) A member may pay a prescribed registration, referral, or participation fee to a lawyer referral service established, sponsored, and operated in accordance with the State Bar of California's Minimum Standards for a Lawyer Referral Service in California.

(B) A member shall not compensate, give, or promise anything of value to any person or entity for the purpose of recommending or securing employment of the member or the member's law firm by a client, or as a reward for having made a recommendation resulting in employment of the member or the member's law firm by a client. A member's offering of or giving a gift or gratuity to any person or entity having made a recommendation resulting in the employment of the member or the member's law firm shall not of itself violate this rule, provided that the gift or gratuity was not offered or given in consideration of any promise, agreement, or understanding that such a gift or gratuity would be forthcoming or that referrals would be made or encouraged in the future.

(C) A member shall not compensate, give, or promise anything of value to any representative of the press, radio, television, or other communication medium in anticipation of or in return for publicity of the member, the law firm, or any other member as such in a news item, but the incidental provision of food or beverage shall not of itself violate this rule."