Form W-9 for attorneys and law firms
Legal services are the largest exception to the rule that payments to corporations go unreported. A law firm organized as a professional corporation still receives 1099s, so W-9 requests never stop arriving.
Name, box, number, and what gets reported
- Line 1
- The firm’s legal name, or the attorney’s own name if a sole practitioner
- Line 3a
- The firm’s actual classification: PC, PLLC, partnership, or sole proprietor
- Line 4
- Exempt payee code is largely irrelevant: legal payments are reportable regardless
- Part I
- The firm’s EIN, or the attorney’s SSN if a sole practitioner without one
- Fees to you
- Form 1099-NEC box 1a
- Gross proceeds
- Form 1099-MISC box 10
The corporate payee exception normally keeps payments to corporations off Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC. Legal services are carved out of that exception, and so are gross proceeds paid to an attorney. A law firm therefore gets 1099s no matter how it is organized, and incorporating, electing S status or reorganizing as a PLLC does nothing to change that. Every insurer, opposing party and client wants a W-9 on file, and they want it before the first check clears. The requests come from claims adjusters who have never spoken to you, from corporate clients running an annual vendor sweep, and from opposing counsel about to disburse a settlement. Fill one out properly, keep the signed PDF where the whole firm can find it, and send that same file every time.
Fees for your services go in box 1a of Form 1099-NEC. Gross proceeds (settlement money paid to you as attorney, including amounts you will pass to a client) go in box 10 of Form 1099-MISC. Box 10 has no threshold beyond the general reporting rules and no corporate exception. The distinction matters because box 10 is not your income. Both box maps
What to put on each line
P/S/C for a PLLC, Partnership for a general partnership or LLP, first box for a sole practitioner5, but it does not stop legal payments from being reported. Many firms leave it blank for that reason.Fees versus gross proceeds
| The payment | Form and box | Reportable to a corporation? |
|---|---|---|
| A client pays your firm for legal services | 1099-NEC box 1a | Yes |
| An insurer pays a settlement to your firm’s trust account for a client | 1099-MISC box 10, gross proceeds | Yes |
| A defendant pays your fee directly under a fee-shifting order | 1099-NEC box 1a | Yes |
| A settlement split between client and counsel | Often two forms: box 10 for proceeds, plus a 1099-MISC to the claimant | Yes |
| You pay a referral fee to another attorney | You file a 1099-NEC to them | Yes, and you need their W-9 |
| You reimburse an expert witness | 1099-NEC to the expert | Depends on the expert’s entity |
Gross proceeds reported in box 10 include money you hold for a client and will disburse. It is reported to you because you received it, not because you earned it. Your return reports your fee; the client reports their recovery. Expect to explain this to a client who receives a surprising form, and keep trust accounting clean enough to substantiate it. The claimant-side version of the same conversation is at W-9 for an insurance settlement.
When the firm is the payer
Law firms sit on both sides constantly. You need a W-9 from experts, investigators, court reporters, referral counsel, contract attorneys, translators and process servers before you pay them, and the engagement letter is the cheapest place to ask. Deciding which form each one gets is a question of what you bought: which form, and which box.
- Request the W-9 at engagement, while you still have leverage
- Referral fees to other attorneys are reportable even where the receiving firm is a corporation
- Run TIN matching before January
- Withhold 24% where no valid certification exists
- Keep W-9s for at least four years
If a settlement recipient will not provide a W-9, backup withholding may be required on the reportable portion. Taking 24% out of client funds is a conversation nobody enjoys. Collect the W-9 at intake, months before anyone is arguing about a disbursement.
Settlement reporting in outline
Seen from the claimant side rather than the firm side, the same transaction is covered at W-9 for an insurance settlement.
Settlement taxability turns on what the payment is for, and the reporting follows the substance. Physical injury recoveries are often excludable; emotional distress without physical injury, lost wages and punitive damages generally are not. Attorney fees can be reported to both the claimant and counsel, which regularly produces a 1099 for money the claimant never touched.
The reporting flows from the settlement agreement. Allocating between excludable and taxable components, and specifying how fees are paid, does more to prevent 1099 problems than anything that can be fixed afterward. This is specialized tax work; involve a tax advisor before signing rather than after the forms arrive.
Mistakes to avoid
- Refusing a W-9 on the basis of being a professional corporation. Legal payments are reportable to corporations.
- Giving an individual attorney’s SSN when the firm has an EIN.
- Treating box 10 gross proceeds as firm revenue on the return.
- Skipping W-9s from referral counsel on the assumption they are exempt.
- Checking the C corporation box for a PLLC. Use the LLC box with the right letter.
- Collecting client W-9s at disbursement rather than at intake.
Frequently asked questions
We are a professional corporation. Are we exempt from 1099s?
No. Legal services and gross proceeds paid to an attorney are reportable regardless of the payee being a corporation. That is a specific statutory carve-out from the corporate exception.
Why did our client receive a 1099 for money we held in trust?
Because gross proceeds paid to an attorney are reported to the attorney in box 10, and the claimant’s taxable recovery is separately reportable to them. Both forms can describe the same settlement from different angles.
Do we need a W-9 from an expert witness who bills through a corporation?
Collect one regardless. It documents your position and you cannot apply an exception you have not verified.
Which exempt payee code should a law firm use?
A corporate firm can use code 5, but it has little effect here because legal payments are reportable anyway. Many firms leave Line 4 blank to avoid implying an exemption that does not apply.
General information, not tax advice. This page explains a federal tax form in plain English. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and W9Form.org is not affiliated with the IRS. Verify everything against the official Form W-9 page on IRS.gov and speak to a licensed professional about your own situation. How we source and review these pages.