Some state ethics committees have found that nonrecourse funding arrangements violate professional conduct rules restricting fee-sharing with nonlawyers, says Nora Freeman Engstrom, a Stanford Law School professor. That includes New York. In 2018, the New York City Bar issued a formal opinion that stated lawyers should not enter into a financing agreement with a litigation funder if the lawyer’s payments to the funder are contingent on the lawyer’s receipt of legal fees on the specific matter.