NEW RULES FOR ILLINOIS AFFECTING ATTORNEY FEE PETITIONS AND“INTERMEDIARY CONNECTING SERVICES” TAKE EFFECT JULY 1, 2025

Earlier this month the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a new rule, Rule 300, pertaining to petitions for the recovery of attorneys’ fees, made minor revisions to Rule 795, pertaining to continuing legal education, and made significant amendments to two Rules of Professional Conduct, Rules 1.6 and 7.2, to define and address the relatively recent development of “intermediary connecting services” (ICS) used by attorneys to generate new business.

Rule 300 now requires an attorney “fee petition” to include a summary of the attorney’s services, a summary of the fee agreement, and relevant excerpts of the fee agreement. The summaries and excerpts should be adequate for the court to “determine the reasonable value of the attorney’s services to the client.” Rule 300(a). The new rule also allows for the recovery of attorney’s fees from an opposing party even when the attorney’s services were provided pro bono. 

Notably, Rule 300 does away with the historical requirement that all fee petitions be based on “an hourly fee arrangement even when that was not the agreement with the client.” In its commentary the Illinois Supreme Court acknowledged fee agreements have evolved from strict hourly billing and include “recurring fixed monthly fees, fixed fees for an entire case or part of a case, and contingent fees, among others.” The Court also discussed the fact that the reasonableness of a fee may be based on factors other than just “the actual legal services provided.” The Court noted, in addition to the considerations listed in Rule 1.51 (1), less tangible factors should also be considered such as price transparency, price certainty, risk management, convenience, accessibility, peace of mind, and relatability.

Rule 795, pertaining to mandatory continual legal education, was amended only to allow for an attorney who participated in the program “Illinois Free Legal Answers” to earn a credit hour for every two hours of participation. Rule 795(d)(14). Rules 1.6 and 7.2 were amended to incorporate additional provisions pertaining to intermediary connecting services, or ICS. The Court defined an ICS as a bar association or legal aid organization, a prepaid or group legal service plan, or a “lawyer directory, referral service, matching service, bidding site…lead generator, or similar marketplace.” Rule 7.2, Comment 6. An ICS does not include individual or reciprocal lawyer-to-lawyer referrals, reciprocal lawyer-to-nonlawyer referrals, or a tribunal appointing or assigning a lawyer. Rule 7.2, Comment 6A.

The Court amended Rule 1.6 pertaining to confidentiality of information to extend the privilege of confidentiality to communications between an ICS and their users as long as the purpose for the communication was to find a lawyer or facilitate the rendition of legal services by the lawyer. Rule 1.6(d). The provisions pertaining to the advertising of legal services contained in Rule 7.2 were also significantly amended to allow for advertising through an ICS as long as the ICS:

1. does not require an attorney to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct

2. does not interfere with the attorney-client relationship, including the fee arrangement

3. does not provide legal advice or services

4. does not make false or misleading statements about the ICS

5. does not engage in improper solicitation through its agents and employees

There are additional requirements affecting an attorney’s use of an ICS and limitations on advertising through an ICS, but they are beyond the scope of this article. New Form 7.2(c) includes a succinct summary of the requirements with which an ICS must comply. Rule 300 and the above amendments will take effect July 1, 2025. Compliance will necessitate some adjustments and possibly the implementation of some new processes, but these updates were necessary given the significant changes in the way attorneys and clients now interact.

1 The tangible factors listed in Rule 1.5 are (1) time and labor involved, (2) novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, (3) requisite skill, (4) the preclusion of other employment, (5) customary fees for similar services, (6) the amount of the fee compared to the result obtained, (7) time limitations, (8) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client, (9) the experience, reputation and ability of the lawyer, and (10) the type of fee agreement. See https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/ ce9cba94-4700-49ed-9183-a43cfcd0c3a5/RULE%201.5.pdf 

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