by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
The Client Dispute Resolution Committee of The Jacksonville Bar Association helps settle disputes between clients and attorneys.
“The Jacksonville Bar is a voluntary group of attorneys,” said Richard Margulies, who has been chair of the Client Dispute Resolution Committee for the last three years. “I say that because the committee is set up to handle calls from persons who have retained the service of attorneys. The dispute is between the attorney and the client.”
Disputes the committee deals with include complaints such as attorneys not appearing for a hearing, disputes over fees, longer than normal cases and attorney not returning calls or keeping clients informed.
“We handle complaints about the type of services being provided by the attorney,” said Margulies.
The committee receives about 200 calls a year, including personal injury or domestic, where the client doesn’t understand the process or how long it takes to complete.
Margulies said there are about 22 people on the committee, which meets once a year to discuss guidelines and share past experiences.
“We get together at the beginning of the year to discuss the methods and procedures that the members are expected to use in order to resolve disputes brought to their attention,” said Margulies. “I do get calls from people on the committee about particular issues and how they want to handle them.”
Complaint calls come into the JBA’s main number. The caller is then directed to an attorney on the committee. It is a rotating list of members so the calls are distributed among the members.
“Our essential job is to listen to what the complaint is,” said Margulies. “We try to figure out what the person is complaining about. Sometimes they want to vent, other times there is a true frustration with not only the lawyer, but the legal system. We identify the problem and ask what they would like us to do. I explain what the next step or plan of action will be. Typically, it is a phone call to the attorney informing them that one of their clients has lodged a complaint and for them to call the client to resolve the problem.”
Margulies tells the client that if they have not received a call by a certain day to call again and someone on the committee will take further action.
Because members of the committee serve in voluntary capacity and attempt to resolve the problem, they have no disciplinary jurisdiction over the attorneys. If the client wants to pursue disciplinary action, they are referred to The Florida Bar.
“When a call is received from the Client Dispute Resolution Committee of the Bar, we get a call back very quickly,” he said. “They [the attorneys] want to resolve the problem, and maintain the professionalism that is expected from them.”