Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 5.6 · Chapter 5. Law Firms and Associations
Restrictions on a Lawyer’s Right to Practice
Text — 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
(a) Unless authorized by law, a lawyer shall not participate in offering or making:
(1) a partnership, shareholders, operating, employment, or other similar type of agreement that restricts the right of a lawyer to practice after termination of the relationship, except an agreement that concerns benefits upon retirement; or
(2) an agreement that imposes a restriction on a lawyer’s right to practice in connection with a settlement of a client controversy, or otherwise.
(b) A lawyer shall not participate in offering or making an agreement which precludes the reporting of a violation of these rules.
(c) This rule does not prohibit an agreement that is authorized by Business and Professions Code sections 6092.5, subdivision (i) or 6093.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
Comment
[1] Concerning the application of paragraph (a)(1), see Business and Professions Code section 16602; Howard v. Babcock (1993) 6 Cal.4th 409, 425 [25 Cal.Rptr.2d 80].
[2] Paragraph (a)(2) prohibits a lawyer from offering or agreeing not to represent other persons* in connection with settling a claim on behalf of a client.
[3] This rule does not prohibit restrictions that may be included in the terms of the sale of a law practice pursuant to rule 1.17.
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://www.calbar.ca.gov/sites/default/files/portals/0/documents/rules/Rules-of-Professional-Conduct.pdf (PDF pages 60–61)
- Text hash
- sha256 d5631f6c617054cf774dbc74548a787855db57002154472068de00a5b5b7695c
- Composed by
- rpc/build 2026-10-22: the State Bar's 2026 PDF (pages 12-71) read by two readers, PyMuPDF glyph positions and pdfminer with the PDF's tagged structure, agreeing on 834 of 843 paragraphs character for character, the other nine (paragraph boundaries only) resolved against the rendered page; 205,485 printed glyphs accounted for; the State Bar's chapter pages a third reading
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Business and Professions Code
California Rules of Professional Conduct
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 5.6. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
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