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<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t believe passing along merch. fees is an ethical violation (though it
<i>may</i> be a violation of operating agreements issued by certain credit card companies). WSBA Advisory Opinion No. 2214 provides as follows:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:ghostwhite">This opinion addresses whether credit card transaction fees may be charged to the client. </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333"><br>
<br>
<span style="background:ghostwhite">Question: A lawyer accepts payments from a client by credit card. The client pays the lawyer with a credit card and the credit card company then charges the lawyer a fee for the transaction. May the lawyer charge the client
an additional amount to cover the fee charged the lawyer for the credit card transaction? </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background:ghostwhite">Answer: It is not prohibited under the Rules of Professional Conduct, PROVIDED that the lawyer notifies the client in advance of such charges and does not charge the client any more than a fee that reasonably reflects the
actual cost incurred by the lawyer for the credit card transaction. HOWEVER, the attorney should consult the merchant services agreement from their credit card processor, as it is typically prohibited to charge these fees back to the customer. </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background:ghostwhite">Analysis: Lawyers may charge clients reasonable amounts for expenses. RPC 1.5(a). The lawyer should communicate with the client in writing the basis for expenses for which the client will be responsible. RPC 1.5(b). Comment
1 to RPC 1.5 further explains that a lawyer may charge a client “for the cost of services performed in-house, such as copying, or for other expenses incurred in-house, such as telephone charges, either by charging a reasonable amount to which the client has
agreed in advance or by charging an amount that reasonably reflects the cost incurred by the lawyer.” </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background:ghostwhite">At the time of issuance, of this opinion, the operating agreements used by most of the major credit card companies prohibit charging customers extra fees to cover the cost of such credit card transaction fees and attempting
to do so may place a lawyer in violation of obligations imposed by the credit card provider agreements. [note 1]. Before attempting to charge a client any fee to recover the costs imposed by credit card providers, the lawyer should carefully consult all applicable
agreements and the contracting bank. </span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Times;color:black"><img width="96" height="95" style="width:1.0in;height:.9895in" id="_x0000_i1027" src="cid:image003.png@01D82F00.24706200" alt="uc%3fexport=download&id=1W3rEcChy0_E0cCfV5up02mkhwnL6eWIs&revid=0B4P5JoIHdbFaR29EbHlRWHFseFV5STZpSUVGeUNPWldkVDFVPQ"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:#203864">Inge A. Fordham | Attorney</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:black">Fordham Law, PLLC</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:black">3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:black">Office: (253) 348-2657 | Mobile: (206) 778-3131</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:black"><a href="http://www.fordhamlegal.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.fordhamlegal.com</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">From: </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Sara Longley <sara@ivylawgroup.com><br>
<b>Reply-To: </b>WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com><br>
<b>Date: </b>Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 12:57 PM<br>
<b>To: </b>WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [WSBARP] Extra charges<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">I understand it is a violation of the ethics rules to penalize clients for their mode of payment (e.g. charging extra to cover our merchant service fees), but one can give a discount for cash payments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">As far as charging for copies, I always figured the charge for the staff time to make the copies includes the cost of the paper used. But maybe I’m missing out on a great cash cow.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Best,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Sara<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Sara D. Longley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Senior Attorney<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Ivy Law Group, PLLC<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">1734 NW Market Street<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Seattle, WA 98107<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Phone: (206) 706-2909<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:sara@ivylawgroup.com"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">sara@ivylawgroup.com</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Pronouns: she, her, hers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:#76923C"><img border="0" width="122" height="107" style="width:1.2708in;height:1.1145in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D82EFD.E9865C50"></span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Kary Krismer<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 3, 2022 12:47 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBARP] Extra charges<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p>Having had the opportunity to review billings from many different firms as a result of bankruptcy fee applications I used to joke some made more money off the copiers and printers than the attorneys. The threshold to bill was one piece of paper or one stamp.<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<pre>Kary L. Krismer<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>206 723-2148<o:p></o:p></pre>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On 3/3/2022 12:44 PM, Ken Luce wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt">Is there a common practice to bill clients for copies above a certain number or the charge by the credit card companies if they pay with credit card or postage above a certain amount?
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18.0pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Kenyon Luce</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Luce & Associates, P.S.</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">5308 12<sup>th</sup> St E</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Tacoma, WA 98424</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">T: (253) 922-8724</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">F: (253) 922-2802</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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