I feel a little bit uneasy about the lawyer directly soliciting funds to pay himself via a gofundme page.
That's because it potentially violates the ABA's model rules of professional conduct. State to state they can change slightly, so there's some small chance that in his state this is A clear "ok." But for purposes of most states this is a borderline ethical violation.
His rationale would be something like the "go fund me ensures that my client's interest in the people who are paying's interest align. He's definitely walking a line that I would not go near.
Edit: rule 1.8
f) A lawyer shall not accept compensation for representing a client from one other than the client unless:
(1) the client gives informed consent;
(2) there is no interference with the lawyer's independence of professional judgment or with the client-lawyer relationship; and
(3) information relating to representation of a client is protected as required by Rule 1.6
The problem IMO is that a flat gofundme gets in the way of deciding how hard to work and fight. The money is there no matter what and the client didn't pay. In addition it incentivizes publicity which comes with its own problems. Anyway
Another potential risk is that he gets overfunded for the work which can violate other rules. Were I to face him the first thing I would do is to bring a motion to disqualify him, but that's a different can of worms.
It would seem that all those rules are being met, right?
IMO it sounds much more simple than it is.