People have used lawyer referral services to find attorneys for many decades. You may be wondering: since the birth of the Internet, are traditionally referral services still relevant?
Yes. Traditional referral services do still serve a valuable purpose. Many of them today have sophisticated, Internet-based systems that people can use to find information about attorneys in their area.
Among the types of referral services are public, private, and online services. Public lawyer referral services are usually provided by bar associations, and the attorneys referred by the association are members of that association. They provide information about attorneys in nearly every practice area, and such information can include the attorneys’ certifications, any pending investigations concerning ethics violations, and previous offenses.
Private referral services are managed by private organizations that generally receive financial support from their business and / or from private donations. In many cases, they only refer attorneys to clients who qualify. For instance, clients could fall within the categories of low-income families, the elderly, or immigrants.
Online referral services offer additional benefits, including confidentiality, more information about the attorneys who are referred, and a faster response time than that offered by public or private referral services.
Upon contacting a lawyer referral service, you will be interviewed by a staff member who will then refer you to an attorney who is well versed in the relevant field of law. If, after your interview, the staff member determines that your problem can be resolved without the help of an attorney, you may be referred to another organization or agency that can offer you some assistance.
Authored by Roxanne Minott, LegalMatch Legal Writer and Attorney at Law.
