Ethics and your license
Helping clients while following the rules.
Client funding touches your license in six places: ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, 5.4, and 8.4. Here is what they demand, and how the platform is built so every referral satisfies them by default.
If the bar ever asks
Funding record
Claim 8412- Options shown to client25+ funders, one set rateRule 1.4
- Terms visible before signature27.8% simple, 2x capRule 8.4
- Attorney acknowledgmentOn the record, before fundingRule 1.1
- Legal feesThe firm's alone, untouchedRule 5.4
Paid to your firm
$0.00
No referral fees, gifts, or priority. Nothing to disclose.
Rule 1.8
Illustrative record. Every referral on the platform produces one.
On camera
This industry keeps quiet about ethics. Time for a change.
ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.3, 1.4
“We as lawyers have an ethical duty to do what's best for our clients, right? And one of the things we're supposed to do is help our clients—give them options if they need access to capital to care for themselves or loved ones to get by, and you should be able to help them find the lowest interest rate.”
Bob Simon
Simon Law Group
Fiduciary responsibility
“I would argue that at that point you're actually committing malpractice when there are opportunities and options out there to do this right, to do this ethically, to do it in a way that is actually in the best interest of the client - not to make them rich, but to get them from here to there.”
Brett Schreiber
Singleton Schreiber
Speakers: ClaimAngel’s founder (identified by title) and an attorney at a law firm that uses ClaimAngel · No compensation was paid for testimonials · Experiences described may not be representative
The rules
The six rules, answered.
Six ABA Model Rules govern how an attorney handles client funding: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, 5.4, and 8.4. The ABA writes the model. Enforcement happens at the state level, through each state bar and its disciplinary board. Here is what the rules say, and how the platform is built around them.
Competence
ABA Model Rule 1.1
The rule asks
The duty extends to the funding terms an attorney recommends. Understanding the rate, the cap, and the terms is part of competent representation.
How ClaimAngel answers
One set rate: 27.8% simple, a 2x cap at 46 months, published on the calculator. The terms are on the page, so they are simple to read and explain.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.”
ABA Model Rule 1.1Diligence
ABA Model Rule 1.3
The rule asks
High funding costs build pressure to settle a case early. Old-industry pricing varies company to company, but the shape is the same: a monthly rate that compounds with no ceiling, working against a client who needs time to reach full value.
How ClaimAngel answers
The set 27.8% simple rate is the same from every funder on the platform. A lower, fixed cost reduces the pressure to settle before a case is ready.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“A lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client.”
ABA Model Rule 1.3Communication
ABA Model Rule 1.4
The rule asks
Naming a single funder, without showing the alternatives, can fall short of the informed choice the rule calls for.
How ClaimAngel answers
One submission puts the case in front of 25+ vetted funders at the same set terms. The client sees the options in one place.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.”
ABA Model Rule 1.4Conflict of Interest: Current Clients: Specific Rules
ABA Model Rule 1.8
Why this matters most
Rule 1.8 is among the provisions most frequently implicated in funding-related discipline, particularly 1.8(a) on business transactions with clients, 1.8(e) on financial assistance, and 1.8(f) on payment from someone other than the client. Receiving any payment, referral fee, gift, or value from a funder creates a conflict of interest with your client.
How ClaimAngel answers
ClaimAngel pays attorneys nothing. No referral fees, no gifts, no priority treatment. There is no financial relationship to disclose.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“A lawyer shall not enter into a business transaction with a client... unless... the client gives informed consent, in a writing signed by the client, to the essential terms of the transaction and the lawyer's role...”
ABA Model Rule 1.8Professional Independence of a Lawyer
ABA Model Rule 5.4
The rule asks
The rule protects a lawyer's independent judgment from outside financial influence. An arrangement that gives a funder a share of, or a say over, legal fees crosses it.
How ClaimAngel answers
Funding and legal fees stay separate. No funder on the platform shares in, or influences, a firm's fees.
Note: Most states follow this rule. A few permit limited nonlawyer fee-sharing under strict oversight: Arizona's licensed Alternative Business Structures (ABS), Utah's time-limited regulatory sandbox, and the District of Columbia's long-standing limited exception. Always verify your jurisdiction's rules.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“A lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a nonlawyer, except that...”
ABA Model Rule 5.4Misconduct
ABA Model Rule 8.4
The rule asks
Misleading a client or a funder, even by omission, undermines integrity and can create the appearance of misconduct.
How ClaimAngel answers
Every rate, term, and payoff is visible to the client and the firm from the start, which keeps each disclosure accurate.
Read the rule textThe rule text
“It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to... engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
ABA Model Rule 8.4
The Model Rules are the floor. Your state’s funding law sits on top of them. We publish every state’s rules, dated and sourced, with our position under each.
See your stateAt settlement
One payoff. One lien. One name on the file.
However many draws the case carried, settlement looks the same: you deal with ClaimAngel, once. Neither you nor your client talks to a funder, at settlement or ever.
Instant payoff letters
Generated from the portal at the click of a button, computed by the same public math as the calculator. One payoff encapsulates every funding on the case.
A single lien
Three draws from three funders is still one ClaimAngel lien. No stack of competing funder liens at distribution.
One point of communication
Only ClaimAngel appears on the payoff, and only ClaimAngel communicates. Funders on the platform have no channel to your client or your firm.
Your own portal
Payoff letters, balances, and status for every client funding, in one place, on your firm's own login.
From our founder
Opinion“Ethics ethics ethics. That's what's never been talked about in the industry, and I'm going to talk about it here. The bar rules require in all 50 states that you give the client the lowest rate you know about when they ask about funding, and that you give them the names of multiple funding companies, not just the company that is easy, or convenient.”
“I was disbarred. And I was wrong about how I handled things. My goal now is to protect you, as lawyers, so you don't make similar mistakes.”
Jeremy Alters
CEO and Founder, ClaimAngel.
Jeremy learned about ethics the hard way. After winning a four-year bar case and being found to have suffered enough by a judge, he was still disbarred by the state Supreme Court over firm mismanagement, trust account violations, and oversights. He founded ClaimAngel to help lawyers avoid the ethical pitfalls that run throughout the funding space.
How the platform is built
Built for the rules.
ClaimAngel pays attorneys nothing.
No referral fees, no gifts, no priority treatment. There is no financial relationship between a firm and a funder to disclose.
Every client sees the same set rate.
27.8% simple, one rate from every funder on the platform. The client can compare it against any other offer.
Funders never direct the case.
No funder on the platform picks strategy, chooses counsel, or influences settlement. The case stays with the client and the firm.
The attorney acknowledges every funding.
Each funding is reviewed and acknowledged by the attorney before it is finalized, on the record.
Every referral leaves a record.
The platform documents the funding options shown and the terms agreed, so compliance has an audit trail.
The client sees every term first.
Rate, cap, and payoff are shown before anything is signed. Nothing about the cost is a surprise at settlement.
For educational purposes only, not legal advice. This page does not constitute legal advice. Attorneys should review their own state's Rules of Professional Conduct and ethics opinions, and talk to counsel licensed in their state.
Refer with the record on your side.
One set rate, 25+ vetted funders, and no financial ties to disclose. Trusted by 700+ law firms.
Questions on compliance? Reach our team at support@claimangel.com.