We have all been in this situation from time to time. You have a meeting scheduled with a new client who has a great claim. You obtained potential adverse parties and the client’s summary of the claim before the meeting. You cleared conflict waivers for the potential adverse parties identified by the new client.
You are 30 minutes into an initial meeting with that potential new client and suddenly you find out that one of the potential adverse parties that the new client did not mention is an existing client of your firm.
Then again you may determine that your prospective new client really needs help within a specialty area of the law. In particular, within a specialty area of the law in which you are not so special. After advising the client of the issue precluding your representation of his or her interest, the client asks you for a referral to an attorney that can handle the matter.
What do you do? If you are like most of us, you likely have a short list of local attorneys to whom you refer these conflicts and specialty matters. These attorneys may be friends or others in the community that you respect and/or know to specialize in the area of need.
In addition to these options, you should strongly consider an alternative referral source. This alternative referral source should be one that can cover any conflict or specialty need your referral client may have. Your short list should include The Jacksonville Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service. It’s simple, effective, efficient, and provides great support to your referral client and to your Jacksonville Bar Association.
How does the Lawyer Referral Service work? It’s like pushing the easy button at Staples. The Lawyer Referral Service conducts an initial conference with your referral client. After becoming comfortable with the facts and issues of the case, the agent directs the prospective referral client to a lawyer who specializes in the area of need.
The referral client pays a simple $50 fee that covers the cost of an initial 30-minute consultation with an attorney specializing in the necessary field. These referral attorneys are all members of The Jacksonville Bar Association.
A full array of specialty practice areas is represented by the Lawyer Referral Service’s referral attorney panel including, without limitation, bankruptcy, traffic violations, real estate, family law, criminal, contract, wills, trusts and estates, tax matters, personal injury, workers compensation, collection and landlord/tenant.
The Lawyer Referral Service has been serving clients since 1995 and has significant experience. Last month alone the Lawyer Referral Service handled more than 700 calls from potential referral clients.
While many potential clients are not willing to pay the $50 referral fee, a great majority elect to proceed and ultimately employ the referral attorney to whom they are directed.
The Lawyer Referral Service is a strategic option and provides your referral client with access to necessary service from other local Jacksonville Bar Association referral attorneys.
In addition to supporting your local bar members, your referral also provides additional support to your Jacksonville Bar Association.
So now that you are sold, how can you direct your referral client to the Lawyer Referral Service? There are two ways. First you can direct your referral client to the JBA web page at www.jaxbar.org. Your referral client will click on the Lawyer Referral tab where your referral client can fill out a form requesting assistance online. However, if your client would prefer to talk to someone directly, you can advise your referral client to call a friendly voice at 399-5780.
In addition to referral clients, the Lawyer Referral Service is always on the lookout to expand its ever growing referral panel. To apply for status as a referral attorney, contact The JBA office for an application or sign up on the web page. The client referrals are completely random and designed to provide equal allotment of referral clients to the referral attorney panel.
Please contact The Jacksonville Bar Association’s office at 399-4486 for more information.