https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099msc.pdf page 2-3 regarding payments to attorneys where you may have to issue them a 1099.
Attorneys' fees of
$600 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are
reportable in box 7 of Form 1099-MISC, under section
6041A(a)(1).
Gross proceeds paid to attorneys. Under section
6045(f), report in box 14 payments that:
Are made to an attorney in the course of your trade or
business in connection with legal services, but not for the
attorney’s services, for example, as in a settlement
agreement;
Total $600 or more; and
Are not reportable by you in box 7.
Generally, you are not required to report the claimant's
attorney's fees. For example, an insurance company pays a
claimant's attorney $100,000 to settle a claim. The insurance
company reports the payment as gross proceeds of
$100,000 in box 14. However, the insurance company does
not have a reporting requirement for the claimant's attorney's
fees subsequently paid from these funds.
These rules apply whether or not:
The legal services are provided to the payer,
The attorney is the exclusive payee (for example, the
attorney's and claimant's names are on one check) and even
if,
Other information returns are required for some or all of a
payment under section 6041A(a)(1).
For example, a person who, in the course of a trade or
business, pays $600 of taxable damages to a claimant by
paying that amount to a claimant's attorney is required to:
Furnish Form 1099-MISC with box 7 completed to the
claimant under section 6041, and Furnish Form 1099-MISC with box 14 completed to the
claimant's attorney under section 6045(f).
For more examples and exceptions relating to payments to
attorneys, see Regulations section 1.6045-5.
However, these rules do not apply to wages paid to
attorneys that are reportable on Form W-2 or to profits
distributed by a partnership to its partners that are
reportable on:
Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), Partner's Share of Income,
Deductions, Credits, etc.; or
Schedule K-1 (Form 1065-B), Partner's Share of Income
(Loss) From an Electing Large Partnership.
Payments to corporations for legal services. The
exemption from reporting payments made to corporations
does not apply to payments for legal services. Therefore, you
must report attorneys' fees (in box 7) or gross proceeds (in
box 14) as described earlier to corporations that provide legal
services.
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