The Bar Association of the District of Columbia (BADC) sponsors a Lawyer Referral Service (LRS). The BADC sponsors the only Lawyer Referral Service in the District of Columbia. The BADC Lawyer Referral Service helps individuals and businesses find a qualified attorney throughout the greater Washington D.C. area.
The Lawyer Referral Service of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (BADC) also sends random "quality-control" surveys to callers to find out more about the quality of services offered by the LRS, the caller's satisfaction with the referral, the legal services performed, and the payment of attorney's fees.
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BADC Lawyer Referral Service (LRS)To become a member of the Lawyer Referral Service panel an attorney must be an active member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and be in good standing with the DC Bar. The attorney must submit an application, acknowledge the LRS Rules and Regulations, pay a panel fee, and submit proof that the attorney maintains malpractice insurance in the minimum amount of $100,000 for each occurrence and $300,000 aggregate per year.
Attorneys are selected for panels according to their areas of concentration. The attorneys that participate in the Lawyer Referral Service must maintain an office in which to receive clients in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area.
When you call the service, you will talk with a member of the Legal Advice Line staff. The staff person will ask you a series of questions to determine whether an attorney is needed. If so, the staff person will determine appropriate legal area of concentration needed.
The staff person will then select an attorney on a rotating basis from the appropriate panel. You must pay a referral fee of $39.95 to receive the referral. The referral fee is collected by the staff person in the BADC referral service.
After you are referred to the attorney, you can contact the attorney to schedule a 30 minute consultation to discuss the case. During the consultation, you can also discuss the attorney fees required for additional representation beyond the initial consultation. Neither the attorney nor the client is under any obligation to continue with the relationship after the initial consultation.
The Lawyer Referral Service has also established an "experience panel" for patent law attorneys in Washington, D.C. Attorneys that serve on the patent law panel must be admitted to practice and be in good standing before the U.S. Patent Office.
To serve on the experience panel the attorney must also show proof of having prepared through execution or prosecution through issuance of at least six matters in the following areas: license agreements; electrical inventions; chemical inventions; mechanical inventions; or computer hardware / software.
If you need to find an attorney in the District of Columbia, then consider the benefits of using a lawyer referral service in Washington D.C. This community based services can help you when you begin your search for the right attorney. The BADC LRS provides an important alternative to using an online attorney directory or searching the internet for an attorney.
