THE "SPLIT FEE ARRANGEMENT": JUSTIFYING AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACT TYPE IN UZBEK CIVIL LAW

Abstract

This article examines whether the split fee arrangement, a contractual mechanism under which two or more professionals divide a single fee owed by a client in exchange for referral, joint work, or shared responsibility, can be justified as an independent contract type within the civil law system of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Using a doctrinal and comparative method, the article analyzes the freedom of contract principle codified in the Civil Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, tests the split fee arrangement against existing nominate contracts such as agency, commission, and paid services, and compares regulatory conditions developed in common law jurisdictions, in particular Rule 1.5(e) of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The article concludes that because contract law, unlike property law, is not bound by a closed list (numerus clausus) of permissible forms, Uzbek civil law can accommodate the split fee arrangement as an innominate, sui generis contract, provided it carries its own essential terms: a defined subject matter, a division formula, an allocation of responsibility between the professionals, and a mandatory disclosure and consent duty toward the client.