2018 Lawyer Referral Attorney Application
More info on the Relaunched Lawyer Referral Service: We Bring you Clients!
LRIS Rules (Amended January 2013)
Overview of Program*
The LRIS has been serving the public for over 35 years and is designed to fill in the gaps where a local bar is not coordinating a referral panel. Currently our service covers 46 out of the 62 counties in NYS. Eligible attorneys must have a physical office in one of our service counties*. (Attorneys practicing outside of our coverage area are encouraged to join their local bar’s referral panel. If our service gets a referral request outside our coverage area we refer the caller to the appropriate local bar.
Lawyers who are members of the LRIS pay an annual fee of $100 ($250 for non-NYSBA members). Proof of malpractice insurance in the minimum amount of $100,000 is required of all participants. If you are retained by a referred client, you agree to pay the LRIS 10% of the entire fee for any case of $500 or more.
Contact Eva Valentin-Espinal ([email protected]) Manager of the Lawyer Referral and Information Service for more information.
How we screen calls and refer clients
The LRIS staff receives more than 50 calls per day from members of the public seeking legal assistance. These calls are screened by our staff to elicit pertinent information regarding the nature of their legal problem. Callers that would be more appropriately helped by other organizations, such as other bar referral services, legal aid societies, or governmental agencies are given contact information for these offices.
Callers needing the advice of an attorney, and who can afford to pay a private attorney, are referred to LRIS panel members on a rotating basis. They are told to expect a ½ hour in-office $35 consultation fee. After the initial consultation the attorney sets their own fees.
Questions? Call 1 (800) 342-3661 or e-mail [email protected]
*Participating attorneys must have an office in/or adjacent towns of the following counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates.
