Seattle-King County Bar Association Reviews (2)
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[redacted]
Revdex.com
PO Box 1000
DuPont, WA 98327
Re: response to complaint submitted by [redacted], complaint ID# [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
Thank you for allowing the King County Bar the opportunity to respond to Ms. [redacted]’s...
complaint.
Program Overview
The King County Bar Association’s (KCBA) Lawyer Referral Services (LRS) provides referrals to individuals who wish to hire an attorney with specific expertise to help with a legal matter. The LRS charges $45 for this service and the individual may receive up to three referrals. The attorney agrees to provide a 30 minute consultation at no charge to help the client determine if the legal issue is valid and the best way to proceed. If the issue appears to have legal merit, the client and attorney may enter into a fee agreement at that point and move forward.
The LRS attorney panels rotate so that every attorney is afforded the same number of referrals. The only exception we make for this rule is if a client has a court date or response due within a very short time frame. At that point, LRS staff will contact several attorneys to see who may be able to handle the matter with short notice.
Complaint Issue #1
Ms. [redacted] asked to be referred to a specific attorney that she had used in the past. We advised Ms. [redacted] that a referral was not needed from us if she already had a relationship with the attorney. Ms. [redacted] then clearly stated in her email of May 4th, (see below) that she wanted to be referred as a new client to be able to get the free 30 minute consultation.
The LRS program makes referrals to individuals who wish to hire an attorney to help with a legal need. The 30 minute consultations are to determine if the clients issue has legal merit. It would be very unfair to the panel attorneys for LRS to make referrals to them for clients they already have a relationship with, that are trying to avoid paying the standard rate for legal fees.
Most attorneys will provide a 30 minute consultation even if they are not referred by LRS, especially if they already have a relationship with the client.
Complaint Issue #2
Ms. [redacted] has also included in her complaint that that the LRS interviewer had “policed, tailed and conducted a background check.” LRS staff did contact the attorney’s office and spoke receptionist to see if we had previously referred Ms. [redacted]. Ms. [redacted]’s email of May 1st (see below) indicated that we had referred her to the attorney two years ago. We could not find the referral records and were simply trying to keep our records in order. It is common for LRS staff to confirm referral records, case status reports and perform general referral follow up with our panel attorneys. This follow up is in no way intended to act as an investigation. LRS does not have need or the resources to perform or request background checks of clients. LRS communicates with panel attorneys on a regular basis to ensure the program is running smoothly.
Complaint Issue #3
Ms. [redacted] stated that she was offended that LRS staff suggested that she seek help from one of KCBA’ s free legal clinics. The legal clinics provide 30 minutes of free legal advice to any resident of King County. The legal clinics are not income based and available to everyone. LRS staff in no way meant to offend Ms. [redacted] or imply that she is of modest means. We sincerely apologize if Ms. [redacted] was offended by this suggestion.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance resoling this matter. LRS would be happy to offer a free referral for Ms. [redacted] at any time.
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