The skilled legal team at Zayed Law Offices has a long history of helping clients referred to them from other law firms and businesses. We gladly accept referrals from attorneys who do not handle personal injury cases and firms that do not have the time or resources to pursue specific cases.

If you’re from a neighboring state or elsewhere in Illinois and need local co-counsel, call us. Visit our Chicago office at 10 S La Salle St Suite 1230, Chicago, IL 60603. We also have offices as far southwest as Peoria and as far northwest as Rockford.

Many of the personal injury cases we handle involve severe or catastrophic injuries, which often require going to trial. We understand that not all firms and lawyers have experience with litigation or have the financial resources to face the high expenses of going to trial. If you send a case our way, we are willing to diligently pursue the best outcome possible for you and your client.

Why Attorneys Refer to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys

Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys is an experienced trial law firm, and our multifaceted goal includes taking on a plurality of the most complex and catastrophic injury cases in the State of Illinois. We have accepted case referrals for years as trusted partners in a variety of practice areas. Whether the case is outside of your scope of practice, experience, or state, or you’d simply like some help, we are happy to consult to decide if we’re the best fit for your client.

We offer competitive attorney fees as well as list the referring attorney’s name on filings. You can feel confident that any case referral to our team is guaranteed to be held to the highest ethical standards and provide results. Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys works with referral partners in a variety of arrangements that fit your needs, whether it’s partnering for litigation or part of the case, providing training to learn from and alongside our premier team, referring a case entirely to our team for any reason, or a combination of these scenarios. We hear often from our partners that cases that our team joins increase in value for the benefit of both the client and referral attorneys.

Chicago Attorney Referrals

The skilled legal team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys has a long history of helping clients referred to them from other law firms and businesses. We gladly accept referrals from attorneys who do not handle personal injury cases and firms that do not have the time or resources to pursue specific cases.

If you’re from a neighboring state or elsewhere in Illinois and need local co-counsel, call us. Visit our Chicago office at 10 S La Salle St Suite 1230, Chicago, IL 60603. We also have offices as far southwest as Peoria and as far northwest as Rockford.

Many of the personal injury cases we handle involve severe or catastrophic injuries, which often require going to trial. We understand that not all firms and lawyers have experience with litigation or have the financial resources to face the high expenses of going to trial. If you send a case our way, we are willing to diligently pursue the best outcome possible for you and your client.

Referring Cases To Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Benefits You and Your Clients

Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys maintains strong relationships with law firms and lawyers throughout Illinois and the nation. When a firm or attorney refers a client to us, we offer a percentage of the attorney fees we collect from a settlement or court-awarded damages. We want lawyers and law firms who refer cases to us to feel confident in their decision to send clients our way.

Lawyers and firms who specialize in other legal practice areas send us clients because of our:

  • Experience. We have decades of experience fighting for injured clients in Illinois courtrooms and courtrooms throughout the nation.
  • Size. In addition to our Chicago office, we have six additional offices to accommodate those who live in the suburbs or other areas of Illinois.
  • Reputation. Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys has received local and national recognition within the legal community. We have received numerous prestigious awards from the most selective legal organizations in the nation.
  • Results. We aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for clients once we accept a case. We win personal injury cases more than 99 percent of the time.

Attorney To Attorney Referrals in Illinois

Not all cases are right for you or your firm. Having the Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys team join the case provides expertise and value that helps get clients what they deserve for their accident or injury.

Once you choose to refer a personal injury case to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, our lawyers review the case to ensure the client has a viable claim. We evaluate the circumstances that led to the injury, interview the client, and examine the case’s merits. We also take special care to protect attorney referral fees permitted under Illinois law.

We accept referrals for the following practice areas:

Transparency is of the utmost importance when referring clients to another attorney. We document referrals and honor agreements we make between referring attorneys and firms and take special care to protect the relationship between you and the client you referred to us while we handle their case.

We are happy to partner with you, whether you are a former client, friend, attorney in a different practice area, or a lawyer who does not have the resources to handle a case successfully.

Illinois State Bar Permits Lawyers to Share Fees

If you have not referred a client to another lawyer, you might assume that accepting a referral fee violates rules about ethics outlined by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Illinois State Bar Association. However, the Illinois State Bar mirrors ABA rules and permits fee-sharing arrangements and referral fees. The team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys complies with Illinois State Bar Rules to create fee-sharing agreements that provide fair compensation.

Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 outlines the conditions for referrals and fee division.

The rule calls for three requirements:

  • Fees must be divided proportionately between each lawyer based on the services each performed, or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for representation when one lawyer refers a client to another.
  • The client must agree, in writing, to the fee arrangement and percentage share each attorney receives.
  • The total fee the client is responsible for is reasonable.

Referral fees might be non-proportional when a joint arrangement exists. Regardless of the exact situation, the referral agreement will establish the responsibility of each attorney to maintain transparency.

Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Handle Referrals in Over a Dozen Practice Areas

Regardless of how your client suffered injuries, we can help you.

The skilled legal team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys has an extensive network that includes various experts to help support referral clients, such as medical experts, engineers, and accident reconstruction specialists. We aggressively advocate for each client we represent, diligently uncovering facts and gathering other information to support their claim.

Common Misconceptions Associated With Attorney Referrals:

Some lawyers turn away clients they cannot help or hesitate to refer them to another firm because they worry about the signal they send when referring a client. Common myths associated with attorney referrals include:

Referring a Client Sends a Signal of Inexperience or Lack of Qualification

Lawyers choose to refer clients to another firm for reasons that have nothing to do with experience. It does not mean you are unqualified if you want to share resources, have a heavy caseload, or want to gain access to those who focus on personal injury law. Instead, when you partner with another firm, you give your client the best chance to receive maximum compensation for the injuries someone else caused them.

Bringing In Another Attorney Doesn’t Look Good

Referrals always occur for a client’s best interest, demonstrating the referring lawyer’s commitment to advocacy and client service. Additionally, having a personal injury firm you can trust to refer clients shows you are well-connected, which inspires confidence in clients. Losing a case looks worse than reaching out for help to a firm that gets results.

A Referral Partner From a Well-Known Firm Only Helps With Name Recognition

Name recognition can indeed help a personal injury case. However, referrals should only occur when it is in the client’s best interest. The advantages of well-known firms like Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys extend far beyond name recognition. Many larger firms have more resources to help with a case, including more legal staff, skilled investigators, and deep financial resources.

FAQs About Our Chicago Business to Business Attorney Referrals

If you are unsure whether to refer a client to another law firm for representation, you might still have some questions about attorney referrals. You can always reach out and discuss your client’s case with one of our attorneys and discuss what a referral looks like with us. Until you have the chance, the answers to the following frequently asked questions provide some preliminary information.

  • What Ethical Issues Surround Attorney Referrals?

    Attorney referrals are not only ethical but legal, and they occur frequently. Attorneys try to get clients into the right hands so they get the remedy they deserve. However, lawyers need to follow guidelines and rules of conduct to keep transactions transparent and in the best interest of the client.

    Attorneys who enter a referral agreement should follow these rules to avoid a breach of ethics.

    • Lawyers who share attorney fees must be from different firms.
    • Lawyers must put a fee-sharing agreement in writing.
    • Lawyers must inform the client about the referral and fee-sharing agreement.
    • The referring lawyer must get the client’s consent for referral and fee-sharing in writing.
    • Lawyers must share attorney fees in proportion to the services provided by each attorney.
    • Lawyers should not accept compensation from another firm to secure a referral.

  • Can Non-lawyers Receive Referral Fees for Sending a Client to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys?

    We are happy to review any case you send to us. For example, if your employee suffered an injury at a worksite owned by another party, we might be able to take action against the property owner, depending on the situation. However, we cannot pay you referral fees. Giving non-lawyers referral fees violates the Illinois State Bar Association and American Bar Association Rules of Professional Conduct in most cases.

    Exceptions to this rule:

    • An agreement exists between the lawyer and the lawyer’s firm to pay compensation over a reasonable period to a deceased attorney’s estate.
    • Lawyers who purchase a legal practice after the owner died, suffered disability, or disappeared can pay legal fees to the lawyer’s representative or estate.
    • A lawyer or law firm can pay fees to a non-lawyer employee through a retirement plan or compensation plan.
    • Lawyers and law firms can share court-awarded legal fees with a non-profit organization that referred them.

  • Is an Attorney Referral Fee Agreement Legally Enforceable?

    As long as you follow the ABA and Illinois State Bar rules mentioned above, your fee arrangement with another lawyer is enforceable. On the other hand, violating the requirements renders a referral fee agreement void and unenforceable.

    Violations that could lead to an unenforceable fee agreement include:

    • Failure to put the agreement in writing.
    • Failure to inform the client about the referral fee and arrangement.
    • Failure to obtain the client’s consent to the fee arrangement in writing.

    To ensure enforceability, get your client to sign a clear disclosure agreement.

  • How Much Work Do I Have to Do on the Case as the Referring Lawyer?

    When you refer a client to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, you can do as little or as much as you want on the case. Usually, the referral attorney does not work on the case once they introduce their client to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys. However, if you want to participate in representation, we can discuss how that might look. You might also want to passively participate by attending hearings, depositions, and client meetings. You have left your client in good hands, so you can choose not to involve yourself in the litigation. We have the knowledge and resources to handle every detail of a personal injury claim while treating the client you referred with compassion and respect.

  • Will It Look Bad to the Client if I Take a Portion of Attorney Fees for the Referral?

    Referring a personal injury case to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys does not increase the total attorney fees charged to the client. Legally, we must disclose this information to the client from day one, and we remind referred clients that the lawyer they already trusted helped them find a fully competent attorney.

    A referral agreement that guarantees you part of the attorney fees shows the client that you have investigated our firm and are risking your reputation by referring them to us. This inspires and maintains trust with your client.

    Ultimately, we remind clients that sharing part of the attorney fee with you is how we reward the trust you placed in Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys and the trust you already established with the client. Most clients are happy to find out that their referring attorney receives some fees for their help. We have never had a client object to referral fees or fee-sharing or interpret it negatively towards the referral lawyer.

Refer Your Personal Injury Cases to Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys

The team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys will gladly evaluate any referred personal injury cases to determine if they can take the case for your client. Whether you do not handle personal injury cases or do not have the financial and administrative resources to obtain a successful outcome, we can help.

Referring your clients to us protects your reputation, eliminates your risk of losing a case, and gives your client the best chance of a positive outcome in their personal injury claim. 

Contact us online or give us a call at (312) 726-1616 to discuss your client’s case and find out if we can meet their needs. If your client has a viable claim, we can take the next steps towards creating a referral arrangement.