Attorney Participation & Professional Standards
The #HURT Attorney Hotline, also known as the #HURT National Attorneys Hotline, is a national attorney co-counsel and referral network designed to connect participating attorneys across the United States. The program enables attorneys to collaborate with trusted legal professionals in states where they do not practice, expanding their reach and ability to serve clients with multi-jurisdictional needs.
Through this network, attorneys can build reciprocal relationships with other #HURT attorneys. When a potential client requires legal representation in a state where an attorney is not licensed, the attorney can refer the client to a qualified network member who is authorized to practice in that jurisdiction. In turn, attorneys receive referrals for clients in their own state from other network members. This reciprocal approach helps ensure that clients receive competent representation while strengthening professional collaboration among attorneys nationwide.
Participation in the #HURT Attorney Hotline is intended for attorneys seeking a reliable co-counsel resource and a broader professional network. All referrals and participation must comply with applicable state bar rules, professional responsibility requirements, and any laws governing attorney referrals, fee-sharing, and multijurisdictional practice. The program is committed to upholding the highest standards of legal ethics and client service
This Term Sheet outlines a proposed reciprocal referral and co-counsel relationship between Montlick & Associates, P.C., a Georgia law firm ("Georgia Firm"), and Company A, a Florida law firm ("Florida Firm"). The parties intend to cooperate on inbound leads generated through advertising of the abbreviated dialing code #HURT and to associate or refer matters in a manner that complies with applicable law, ethics rules, client-consent requirements, and court-approval requirements in the jurisdiction where the case is prosecuted
1. Scope and Lead Routing
If advertising using #HURT generates a lead for a Florida personal injury or medical malpractice matter, the lead will be promptly routed to the Florida Firm for intake, conflict checking, evaluation, engagement, and primary handling in Florida. If the reverse occurs and advertising generates a lead for a Georgia personal injury or medical malpractice matter, the lead will be promptly routed to the Georgia Firm for intake, conflict checking, evaluation, engagement, and primary handling in Georgia. No representation begins unless and until the receiving firm completes its own conflicts review and the client signs all required engagement and disclosure documents.
2. Roles and Responsibility
For each referred matter, the firm in the state where the case is to be prosecuted will serve as primary counsel and will be responsible for legal services, staffing, litigation strategy, settlement authority subject to client approval, and compliance with local court rules. The referring firm may remain involved only to the extent permitted by the governing ethics rules and any written client consent. If a fee division is to be based on joint responsibility rather than proportionate services, each participating lawyer must assume the level of joint responsibility required by the governing jurisdiction, remain available to the client as required, and satisfy any writing or approval requirements imposed by that jurisdiction.
3. Fees and Fee Division
(a) Florida matters.
For Florida personal injury matters, the client contingency fee shall be
set only in a written Florida-compliant contingency fee agreement and shall not exceed the fee permitted by Florida law for the posture and amount of the recovery. If a lawsuit is filed and a 40% fee is permissible under Florida law for the applicable portion of the recovery, that 40% fee may be charged only if properly documented and otherwise compliant. However, any fee division between firms on a Florida contingent matter must comply with Florida's fee-division rules for lawyers in different firms. Accordingly, unless the firms establish a true co-counsel relationship with any required written disclosures and any required court approval, the secondary/referring lawyer's share may be limited under Florida rules and a flat 50/50 split is not automatically available for Florida contingent matters.
(b) Georgia matters.
For Georgia matters, the client fee shall be governed by the engagement agreement and Georgia law. Subject to Georgia ethics requirements, including client notice of each lawyer's share and, where applicable, written agreement for joint responsibility, the parties may divide the fee either in proportion to services performed or on the basis of joint responsibility. For Georgia matters only, the parties intend an equal division of the earned attorney's fee between the Georgia Firm and the Florida Firm, provided the total fee is reasonable and the arrangement is fully disclosed to the client as required.
(c) Reciprocal intent.
The parties desire economic reciprocity. For matters governed by Georgia law, the parties intend an equal 50/50 split of the earned attorney's fee, subject to client disclosure and all ethics requirements. For matters governed by Florida law, the parties intend to divide fees to the maximum extent permitted by Florida law and court rules; if an equal split is desired in a specific Florida contingent matter, the parties shall document a Florida-compliant co-counsel arrangement and obtain any client consent or court approval required before any such division is effective.
(d) Expenses.
Case costs and expenses shall be advanced and reimbursed as agreed in the file-specific engagement or co-counsel agreement
4. Client Consent and Compliance
Each matter must include all disclosures, consents, and acknowledgments required by the jurisdiction handling the case, including disclosure of the participation of all lawyers and the basis of any fee division. For Florida contingent matters, the Florida Firm will use the required Florida forms and disclosures, including any statement of client rights and any court approval that may be required for an above-standard secondary-lawyer share. For Florida medical malpractice matters, the parties acknowledge that Florida imposes additional constitutional and rule-based restrictions that may limit or alter the fee structure unless a valid waiver is obtained where permitted by law.
5. Advertising, Licensing, and Unauthorized Practice
Neither firm shall hold itself out as licensed in a jurisdiction where it is not admitted, and neither firm shall provide legal advice in another jurisdiction except as permitted by applicable multijurisdictional practice rules, association with local counsel, or pro hac vice admission where applicable. All advertising and intake scripts relating to #HURT should be reviewed for compliance with the advertising rules of each relevant jurisdiction and should clearly direct state-specific legal matters to appropriately licensed counsel
6. Implementation
The parties should memorialize each accepted referred matter in a file-specific engagement letter and, where needed, a separate co-counsel or fee-division agreement that tracks the governing state's ethics rules. This Term Sheet is intended as a business framework only and should be reviewed and converted into a definitive agreement by counsel admitted in the relevant jurisdictions before use