Meets ABA Standards
MODEL RULES GOVERNING LAWYER REFERRAL AND INFORMATION SERVICES
Lawyer referral services have been in operation in this country for more than 80 years, and were first established in response to requests by middle income persons for assistance in obtaining appropriate legal counsel. Lawyer Referral and Information Services are designed to assist persons who are able to pay normal attorney fees but whose ability to locate appropriate legal representation is frustrated by a lack of experience with the legal system, a lack of information about the type of service needed, or a fear of the potential costs of seeing a lawyer. Lawyer referral programs offer two important services to the public. First, they help the client determine if the problem is truly of a legal nature by screening inquiries and referring the client to other service agencies when appropriate. The second, and perhaps more important, function of a lawyer referral service is to provide the client with an unbiased referral to an attorney who has experience in the area of law appropriate to the client’s needs. The public has come to equate the function of lawyer referral programs with consumer-oriented assistance, and expects that the loyalty of the program will lie with the consumer, and only secondarily with the participating attorney.
In August 2022, the ABA House of Delegates adopted the Model Rules Governing Lawyer Referral and Information Services, which combined and updated the previously adopted Model Supreme Court Rules Governing Lawyer Referral and Information Services and the Minimum Quality Standards for Lawyer Referral. To view the Model Rules and learn more about their background, click here.