Sarah Darby, Lawyer Referral Service Assistant, sdarby@meckbar.org

The Mecklenburg County Bar Lawyer Referral Service (MCB LRS) focused on the following goals during the 2011-2012 fiscal year: (a) maximizing effectiveness through appropriate panel membership requirements, (b) maximizing effectiveness through appropriate committee and sub-committee membership, and (c) self sustainability. All of these goals were intended to better serve panel members, the bar and potential clients.

The MCB LRS maintained a solid base of panel members throughout the year and, in fact, panel membership

reached its highest level of 82 members for the fiscal year 2011-2012.  In an effort to ensure the MCB LRS continued to be effective for all stakeholders, panel members, the bar and potential clients, the Committee spent considerable effort reviewing the panel membership guidelines.  The Committee's suggested revisions to the guidelines are still being vetted at the Committee level for presentation to the bar leadership and are intended to ensure the highest quality panel. 

The Committee also spent considerable time considering the requirements for membership on the Committee and the value add of having a limited number of Committee members who may not be eligible to serve on the panel (i.e. public sector lawyers) or may not be lawyers (i.e. marketing professionals). The Committee's recommendations in this regard are also being prepared for presentation to the bar leadership and are intended to ensure the most effective Committee membership.

The Committee also refocused its two subcommittees, the Panel Review Subcommittee and the Marketing Subcommittee.  Allowing Committee members to breakout into these smaller focus groups produced great ideas to market the MCB LRS and great ideas to ensure the MCB LRS remains self sufficient by ensuring the highest quality panel members and the collectability of MCB LRS fees from panel members.

The number of incoming calls from potential clients remained steady throughout the year, averaging 130 calls per month.  The most prominent areas of law in which cases were referred to panel members were family law followed by negligence cases.  We saw an additional increase in civil litigation cases this past year as well as landlord/tenant.

Any attorneys interested in leadership within the MCB LRS are encouraged to consider joining the MCB Lawyer Referral Service Committee.  The Committee consists of 12 members, each serving three-year terms.  The Committee handles a variety of issues including marketing strategies, guideline review, ethics questions and strategizing to meet panel members' needs. 

 If you are interested in serving as a member of the Committee, contact MCB Director of Lawyer Volunteer and Community Services, Heather Blackley, at hblackley@meckbar.org.