Can my attorney or his friend (also an attorney) lose their licenses because of an out-of-pocket expense they paid, due to my running out of resources

I am a plaintiff in a case taken on fee contingency, but I have had to pay all out-of-pocket expenses for motions filed, depositions taken, etc. At one point my attorney was cited for contempt and spent a night in jail on a matter of principle, but during that time he had to file several motions on my behalf at a cost of $7500. I had no money, so a friend of his (an attorney) paid the $7500. My attorney told me that his friend could lose his license for doing so. Nine months later my attorney contacted me urgently and told me that I had to overnight $7500 to his friend along with a notarized letter providing an explanation for the delay (illness, stress, etc). This urgency was because his friend was being audited and had to cover that expense. My question is: On what basis could his friend lose his license, and is my attorney at risk too?