Back to business today, now that the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers are gone!

We talked a few days ago about some of the ways to find and choose a lawyer, specifically, personal recommendations and the phone book. Today, I’m going to talk about Lawyer Referral Services. These referral services can be run in a variety of ways. Many of them are services coordinated by county or state bar associations in your area. In fact, before the Internet, these were just about the only type of referral services available. With the Internet, there are lots of websites available that “advertise” themselves as “referral services.” Buyer beware! Internet referral services are really nothing more than high tech phone books and should be approached with the same caution as we discussed previously. Right now, I’m going to give you the pros and cons of the more traditional type of referral service, run by a local or state bar association.

Pros:  Many state and local bar associations provide lawyer referral services.  With these services you are usually able to speak with a live person and describe your legal problem.  Referrals to local attorneys who handle these types of matters will be given to you.  The referral service may also make it possible for you to obtain a consultation with the attorney at no charge or for a reduced rate.  As appealing as this solution to your search may seem, there are very limited advantages to this approach.   The primary advantage may be that the bar association providing the service may require that the attorneys participating in the program carry a minimum amount of malpractice insurance.  However, when contacting a lawyer referral service, you should ask the representative what the requirements are for attorneys to participate in the service and be on their list.

Cons:  While the source of the referral (a bar association) may seem to lend some credibility to the attorney, this is not necessarily true.  Remember that the referral service is not recommending the attorney; they are simply pointing you in the direction of attorneys who may be able to assist you.  They are usually required to give out three names, so as to not turn the referral into a recommendation.  The attorneys on the lists choose to participate in these referral programs.  The attorneys are responsible for selecting the areas of law in which they will accept referrals.  Therefore, it is possible that an attorney is using the referral service to build up a new area of practice and is not even taking referrals in the areas of law in which he or she is most experienced or capable.  The referrals are usually made on a rotating basis on a list; therefore, the person who called right before you may have gotten a referral to the “better” lawyer while you just got the next three names in rotation.

These referral services may also be a revenue raising program for the bar association that sponsors the service.  In other words, when attorneys choose to participate in the program, they may also be agreeing to turn over a portion or percentage of their legal fees to the bar association when the case is concluded.  In some instances, they may be required to turn over as much as 20 percent of their fee.  While on the one hand the attorney may be glad to have your personal injury or medical malpractice case that is worth millions, he or she may also have a lingering resentment throughout your case that so much of their fee will go to the association and not in their own pocket.  An attorney’s attitude (conscious or subconscious) can affect outcome.

If you choose this route, you can ask some important questions that may assist you in your final decision.  Ask what the agreement between the attorneys and the referral service is for their participation in the program.  When you get the names of the attorneys, ask for information about where they went to law school, what year they were admitted to the bar, and if they are licensed to practice in any other jurisdictions.  Ask if the attorney carries malpractice insurance.

Remember that these are questions that you should ask any attorney when you interview them to handle your case. Once again – Don’t Check Your Common Sense At The Door (see 11.22.09)…

Best wishes to everyone for a warm and delicious Thanksgiving Day with friends and family. Even bad lawyers can have one day for a nice meal!!!

Perhaps the biggest obstacle you face when looking for the right lawyer is that it is very hard to plan ahead.  Even though we all live in what is frequently described as a “litigious” society, most people do not have their own lawyer “on call.”  In most circumstances it is unlikely that you will know ahead of time that you are going to need to hire an attorney.

At that moment when you realize you need a lawyer, you are immediately faced with the double whammy of being in the middle of a stressful circumstance requiring legal assistance and not knowing whom to call.  Just think about it.  You have had a car accident and are injured – the accident was not your fault.  You have decided you want a divorce, or your husband or wife has had you served with divorce papers.  You, or a family member, are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on the way home from that holiday office party.  Your teenager is “detained” by the school or police for “questionable” activities that your child describes to you as a “prank” (but you surmise right away that this could escalate into a serious situation).

These are just a few examples, but the point is this – the event that will trigger your initial contact with a lawyer will, very likely, be an unexpected stressful event.  It is not an ideal time to be absolutely clueless about what to do next.

Today, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of a couple of possible ways of finding and choosing a lawyer.  There is a lot more to talk about on this subject which we will cover in days to come.

A referral from a friend, coworker or family member…

Pros: This is a popular approach, and a recommendation is always a good starting point, assuming that you trust the judgment of the person making the referral.  A personal referral also provides some common ground from which to introduce yourself to the prospective law firm.  Positive word-of-mouth can be a good reflection on the lawyer and the firm.

Cons: This type of referral is not always based on information that will really help you with your current predicament.  Just because your friend, Sally, has an aunt who really liked her lawyer, this has nothing to do with whether or not this is a good lawyer (or, even if it is a good lawyer, it still may not be the right lawyer for you and your problem).   What kind of legal problem did Sally’s aunt have?  A car accident, a divorce, or a doctor who misdiagnosed her husband’s prostate cancer?  Finally, remember that chances are that the person who is making the referral may have been just as uninformed as you when they found the lawyer they are recommending.  Is their referral based upon a comparison with anyone else?

Let your fingers do the walking…

Pros: I really can’t think of any!  The phone book is a good place to find the phone number or address of a specific lawyer whose name you already know.  The yellow pages advertisement may also provide some information about the areas of law that an attorney at least professes to be skilled at.  In other words, if you need a divorce lawyer, and a lawyer advertisement states that the law firm does personal injury and wrongful death, you can eliminate them without a phone call.

Cons: Although the lawyers who spend thousands upon thousands of dollars a year to place “informative” advertisements in the yellow pages would like you to think that they are simply assisting you in finding the best representation available, this may not be true.  The biggest yellow page ads are purchased by the lawyers who make the most money, and if you knew exactly how they came by their money, you might find that the biggest ad is not necessarily pointing to the best lawyer for the job.  We will talk more later about some of the strategies that different types of lawyers use to make money, but suffice it to say that a big expensive advertisement in the phone book does not necessarily equate with quality legal representation.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way, because I can hear the lawyers yelling out there.  A big ad doesn’t mean you are going to get a bad lawyer – it is simply important to remember that there are a lot of criteria for selecting a lawyer, and if you limit yourself to what they say about themselves in the phone book, you are not proceeding in your own best interests.  If, after you interview an attorney, it seems like their ad was “on the money,” then hire them.  After all is said and done, choosing a lawyer is a personal decision.  But, it is your decision, not the decision of the people selling yellow pages advertising to the highest bidders!

Well, that was a lot of information and it’s only the tip of the iceberg…