Key Takeaways
- • Attorney Felix Shipkevich, writing in Law360 on October 14, 2026, says clients increasingly ask lawyers to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds in cryptocurrency.
- • Only a handful of state bar authorities have issued ethics opinions on accepting crypto payments, and those opinions vary in their conclusions.
- • Several related questions remain unanswered by any ethics authority, according to the article.
- • The article frames crypto's mainstream status as the backdrop: bitcoin trades through ETFs in ordinary brokerage accounts, the federal government holds a strategic bitcoin reserve, and Congress has enacted a stablecoin law.
Summary
As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, law firms face a question that existing professional guidance only partially answers. In an article published October 14, 2026 in Law360, attorney Felix Shipkevich writes that only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue, and their ethics opinions vary.
Shipkevich argues that the practice has moved into the mainstream. He points to bitcoin trading through exchange-traded funds in ordinary brokerage accounts, the U.S. federal government's strategic bitcoin reserve, the enactment of a stablecoin law by Congress, and the constant presence of digital asset prices in financial news coverage as evidence that crypto is no longer a fringe asset class.
The central concern for practitioners is that, while some bar authorities have offered guidance, important related questions have not been answered by any authority. The excerpt available for this summary does not detail the specific opinions or the unresolved questions, and the full article is behind a Law360 subscription paywall. Readers evaluating crypto payment policies for escrow accounts and retainers should consult the complete article and their own jurisdiction's ethics rules.
Shipkevich argues that the practice has moved into the mainstream. He points to bitcoin trading through exchange-traded funds in ordinary brokerage accounts, the U.S. federal government's strategic bitcoin reserve, the enactment of a stablecoin law by Congress, and the constant presence of digital asset prices in financial news coverage as evidence that crypto is no longer a fringe asset class.
The central concern for practitioners is that, while some bar authorities have offered guidance, important related questions have not been answered by any authority. The excerpt available for this summary does not detail the specific opinions or the unresolved questions, and the full article is behind a Law360 subscription paywall. Readers evaluating crypto payment policies for escrow accounts and retainers should consult the complete article and their own jurisdiction's ethics rules.
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