Before the state Supreme Court Tuesday, a handful of bar association groups pushed back against a new referral fee rule that they say causes confusion among litigators and will disincentivize referrals going forward.

Representing the New Jersey State Bar Association in an oral argument session over the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics' recently released Opinion 745, Bressler, Amery & Ross's Diana C. Manning told the justices that for almost 45 years, New Jersey attorneys have understood that certified lawyers could pay a referral fee to out-of-state attorneys.