(1) As used in this section: (a) "Attorney" means an individual who is authorized to provide legal services in any state or territory of the United States. (b) "Client" means an individual who is provided legal services by an attorney or a law firm. (c) "Client referral fee" means any amount paid by an attorney or a law firm to a person that is not an attorney for the purpose of referring the client to receive legal services from the attorney. (d) "Law firm" means a person that employs an attorney. (e) "Legal services" means any form of legal advice or legal representation that is subject to the laws of this state. (2) A client may bring a cause of action against an attorney or a law firm to recover a client referral fee if: (a) the attorney or the law firm pays a client referral fee; and (b) the client referral fee was not disclosed to the client before the client paid for, or was obligated to pay for, legal services from the attorney or the law firm. (3) A client may not bring a cause of action under this section if the client referral fee was paid: (a) as part of a profit-sharing plan that complies with the requirements of Section 401, Internal Revenue Code; (b) to a person that provides marketing services, including pay-per-click advertising, for the attorney or the law firm, and the client referral fee was not contingent on whether the attorney or the law firm retains a client; or (c) to a third party debt collection agency, as that term is defined in Section 12-1-11, for the purpose of recovering money owed to the attorney by the client. (4) Any attorney or law firm that provides legal services to the client in the matter for which the client referral fee was paid shall be jointly and severally liable in a cause of action under Subsection (2). (5) This section applies to a cause of action described in Subsection (2) that arises on or after May 5, 2021.
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