IN THE LAST fiscal year (ended May 31, 2003), the NHBA Lawyer Referral Service generated more than $1 million in client fees for its panel attorneys. (This does not count those cases where fees earned were less than $250).

Virginia A. Martin, the NHBA associate executive director for legal services, said the earning results demonstrate that the LRS program delivers not just volume, but quality in the cases it refers to attorneys who join the panel (for just $50 per year). "We are indeed pleased with crossing the $1 million mark in net collected fees for the first time," Martin said, "but we also feel that the cases we refer are delivering much more in value by helping lawyers on our panel to build their practices with the kinds of cases and clients they prefer."

"From our clients' point of view, LRS provides an unintimidating, personalized means of obtaining legal services," Martin added. "Many of our clients are seeking legal help for the first time. Our staff not only provides them with referrals, but also helps them prepare for their initial meetings with the attorneys, making it more likely that the attorney and client will develop an effective working relationship."

Even for the clients for whom it does not provide a referral, LRS provides a valuable service, handling inquiries that might otherwise result in unproductive, time-consuming calls to lawyers' offices, and referring the callers to more appropriate resources and social services. Last year, LRS answered more than 7,000 calls, and, of that number, made more than 4,000 referrals (including the Reduced Fee Referral Program).

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