Oct. 31, 2025
Collecting what's due: Ethical boundaries when pursuing unpaid legal fees
When clients don't pay, lawyers have options -- but ethical rules strictly limit how far they can go, what they can disclose and how they work with collection agencies.
David M. Majchrzak
Partner
Rosing Pott & Strohbehn
Litigation, Legal Ethics
501 W Broadway A380
San Diego , CA 92101-3584
Email: dmajchrak@rosinglaw.com
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
David practices in the areas of legal ethics and litigation of professional liability claims.
Lawyers work hard for their clients. They can help with some of the biggest challenges their clients will ever know. And yet, clients sometimes do not pay the fees and costs that are due to the lawyers who counseled them and helped them navigate their problems to resolution.
In such a situation, a lawyer may not want to walk away from what is due to them. That can mean engaging in collection efforts. While that is a perfectly acceptable path to pursue, i...
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