JOIN THE LAWYER REFERRAL AND INFORMATION SERVICE

Since 1952, the SDCBA's Lawyer Referral and Information Service has been San Diego County's largest, most active, and most trusted lawyer referral service. All public inquiries are carefully screened and referred on a rotating basis, to approved attorneys. If a referral to an attorney is not appropriate, the caller will be referred to a legal or social service agency for assistance.

It takes about one month for applications to be processed. The LRIS Committee reviews all completed membership applications on the 4th Monday of each month. All applications must be received by the second week of the month to be considered that month.

The number of referrals varies by each area of law. The LRIS program provides over 40,000 referrals each year to attorneys in our community.

The State Bar Minimum Standards indicates that the Lawyer Referral Service must require each panel member to possess a policy of errors and omissions insurance in an amount not less than $100,000 for each occurrence and $300,000 aggregate per year. Along with the completed LRIS membership application, you must submit a Certificate of Insurance or a cover sheet of your policy indicating the dates of coverage, the person insured, and the amounts of coverage. You are required to make the Lawyer Referral and Information Service of the San Diego County Bar Association a certificate holder on your policy. The coverage must be in existence during your participation on the panel. If it lapses, you are obligated to immediately notify LRIS.

Yes.  The San Diego County Bar Association offers liability insurance through Ahern Insurance Brokerage. For more information on AIB professional liability insurance, please contact Sheila Denessen, CISR at (858) 514-7131 or via e-mail at info@aherninsurance.com.

No. We require that the attorney recommendation be from a colleague with whom you do not have a business relationship. We want to verify that outside attorneys have witnessed your work and professionalism.

Yes. We require that the attorney recommendation be from an attorney who has witnessed your work in that area of law.

No. You do not have to be a member of SDCBA to join LRIS. However, the program registration fee is significantly higher ($350 annually) for non-SDCBA members. If you are a member of SDCBA, the program registration fee is $125 annually.

If your panel application is rejected, then the LRIS Committee may send you a letter requesting further clarification and/or information and ask for you to re-submit your application with more details. However, your registration and application fee is non-returnable.

The LRIS phone message and the LRIS Counselor will tell the caller that the attorneys on the service are not free or reduced rate attorneys. The exceptions are the attorneys who participate in the Flat-Fee program (fixed rate, limited to qualified clients with matters related to Personal/Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Incorporation and LLC Formation, Revocable Trust and Last Will and Estate Plan, Family Law, and Tenant Consultations) and family law attorneys who participate in the Modest Means Program ($150 hourly rate, limited to qualified clients with specific family law disputes, limited financial resources, and are ineligible for legal aid). 

LRIS callers are told that they can receive the names of up to three San Diego attorneys per legal issue and that we do not give out lists of attorneys for them to call. Clients for the Modest Means Program are offered the names of up to two attorneys.

Panel attorneys remit fifteen (15) percent on all legal fees received from an LRIS-referred case, except Modest Means and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act cases.

Every client that is referred is sent a client satisfaction survey. This is done to ensure that LRIS is providing a valued service to the public, and is required by the State Bar of California.

Yes. Please make sure to inform LRIS if you will be out of the office or unable to receive referrals. We will put a temporary hold on your LRIS panel records.

LRIS will email you an attorney confirmation every time a referral is made to your office, provided we have your current email address.

Yes, the LRIS will email all referrals and reports to your office. Please make sure we have your current email address. Click here for a training guide.

All attorneys must provide LRIS with a physical street address where client meetings are held. If you do not have a permanent office location, then you must provide LRIS with a meeting or a satellite office address.

If a client calls you regarding the Modest Means program and you are not on the Modest Means panel, please be sure to refer him/her back to LRIS. Many clients are aware of the program but do not realize that this program is only for family law and that there is a screening process for receiving and providing these services.

If you are on a panel and have an area of specialty, please let us know so we can put this information in your panel notes. This helps us when referring callers. For example, if you are on the family law panel and handle QUADROs, let us know.