Charter for the Statewide Lawyer Referral Service

I.  Name:

Lawyer Referral Service of the Alaska Bar Association

II.  Purpose:

To provide the general public with the names of active members of the Alaska Bar Association who are in good standing and are willing and able to accept referral clients at a reasonable fee.

III.  Administration

The Alaska Bar Association shall assume responsibility for the Lawyer Referral Service and under this charter shall operate the Referral Service in the manner deemed to be in the best interest of the public and the Bar, and shall request assistance from the Bar, propose changes in the Charter, arrange for publicity, register participating lawyers in appropriate panels, authorize all administrative requirements, maintain records of operation, make an annual report to the Bar, as well as perform all other functions necessary for the successful operation of the Lawyer Referral Service.

IV.  Operation

A. Each caller/writer (hereafter simply referred to as “caller”) shall be given the names of three attorneys in his or her geographical area who are registered in the panel (category) for which the caller seeks services. The order of categories shall be random, but shall be systematically rotated. The categories shall be organized into the following geographical areas:Anchorage, Sitka, Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Kenai Peninsula, Juneau, Valdez, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Ketchikan, Rural Alaska (Kotzebue, Nome, Barrow, Bethel and Dillingham).

The attorney shall be registered in the geographical area indicated by his or her office address as listed on the registration card.

B. Each caller shall be advised that the fee for an initial one-half hour conference is a maximum of $125, and that attorney/client agreement shall govern subsequent charges.

C. Each caller shall be advised to select one of the three attorneys referred and to telephone the participating attorney for an appointment. If the first attorney is unable to assume responsibility for the case, the caller shall be advised to contact the remaining two lawyers for advice.

D. A list of names of the callers shall be maintained in the Alaska Bar Association office.

V.  Participation:

A. Enrollment in the Service is voluntary, and all active members of the Alaska Bar Association are urged to participate. Enrollment shall be on an annual basis and the contract year shall be from January 1 to December 31.

B. Each participating lawyer shall maintain “Errors and Omissions” insurance of at least $50,000.

C. In order to be eligible to participate in the Lawyer Referral Service, each participating lawyer must complete the minimum recommended hours of approved CLE, i.e., 12 hours of CLE per calendar year, including one hour of ethics, as stated in Bar Rule 65 (the MCLE Rule.)

D. Each participating lawyer shall pay an enrollment fee of $50 per panel (category) selected for listing in any calendar year, except that attorneys may select listings in the Arts Law or Foreign Language categories at no charge. Attorneys may pay a renewal fee of $20 per panel. The enrollment fee shall be reserved exclusively for the operation of the Lawyer Referral Service.

E. Each participating lawyer shall pay a $4.00 surcharge on each referral made during the calendar quarter, that charge assessed regardless of whether the caller referred actually appeared for the appointment made or even contacted the participating lawyer as a result of the referral.

F. The first half-hour conference may be charged at a maximum of $125. Thereafter, attorney/client agreement shall govern subsequent fees.

G. Each participating attorney shall agree to accept referrals from the following list of panels: