The Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is asking certain of its select outside law firms to give it a credit on its annual legal fees, based on the amount of customer business—such as loans—sent to the law firms. Some experts say that practice is highly unusual and ethically suspect.
A form prepared by Bank of America and given to preferred provider law firms calls for a one-year deal between the bank and the firm. It states that the law firm “will give BAC a credit equal to $_____ [blank] to be applied toward bank paid legal services provided to GBAM [global banking and markets division] during the one-year arrangement period.”
