---
kind: "section"
citation: "37 C.F.R. § 11.504"
title: "37"
number: "11.504"
heading: "Professional independence of a practitioner."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/37/11.504"
---

# §11.504. Professional independence of a practitioner.

- (a) A practitioner or law firm shall not share legal fees with a non-practitioner, except that:
  - (1) An agreement by a practitioner with the practitioner's firm, partner, or associate may provide for the payment of money, over a reasonable period of time after the practitioner's death, to the practitioner's estate or to one or more specified persons;
  - (2) A practitioner who purchases the practice of a deceased, disabled, or disappeared practitioner may, pursuant to the provisions of [§ 11.117](/cfr/37/11.117.md), pay to the estate or other representative of that practitioner the agreed-upon purchase price;
  - (3) A practitioner or law firm may include non-practitioner employees in a compensation or retirement plan, even though the plan is based in whole or in part on a profit-sharing arrangement; and
  - (4) A practitioner may share legal fees, whether awarded by a tribunal or received in settlement of a matter, with a nonprofit organization that employed, retained or recommended employment of the practitioner in the matter and that qualifies under [Section 501(c)(3)](/cfr/37/501.md?p=c-3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
- (b) A practitioner shall not form a partnership with a non-practitioner if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.
- (c) A practitioner shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays the practitioner to render legal services for another to direct or regulate the practitioner's professional judgment in rendering such legal services.
- (d) A practitioner shall not practice with or in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit, if:
  - (1) A non-practitioner owns any interest therein, except that a fiduciary representative of the estate of a practitioner may hold the stock or interest of the practitioner for a reasonable time during administration;
  - (2) A non-practitioner is a corporate director or officer thereof or occupies the position of similar responsibility in any form of association other than a corporation; or
  - (3) **A non-practitioner has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a practitioner.**
- (e) The prohibitions of paragraph [(a)](#a), [(b)](#b), or [(d)(1)](#d-1) or [(2)](#d-2) of this section shall not apply to an arrangement that fully complies with the laws, rules, and regulations of the attorney licensing authority of the State(s) that affirmatively regulate(s) such arrangement.

## Notes

### Amendments

[78 FR 20201, Apr. 3, 2013, as amended at 88 FR 45088, July 14, 2023]

### Source

Source: 78 FR 20201, Apr. 3, 2013, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 500; 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), 32, 41; Sec. 1, Pub. L. 113-227, 128 Stat. 2114.

### Source

Source: 69 FR 35452, June 24, 2004, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[78 FR 20201, Apr. 3, 2013, as amended at 88 FR 45088, July 14, 2023]