Tampa Car Accident Tips - What is a Lawyer Referral Service?

Driving around Tampa you're bound to see billboards advertising a lawyer referral service. The same is true on T.V. It seems that lawyer referral services are everywhere. What are lawyer referral service and why are there so many of them recently?

If you're in a Tampa car accident that wasn't your fault and are injured you're likely to want to speak to an accident attorney about your rights. Although most Tampa injury attorneys will tell you that recommendations from friends and relatives are probably your best source for referrals some people may be inclined to turn to other sources such as television advertising, the yellow pages, etc. If you call a lawyer referral service, they can direct you to an attorney. These referral services are monitored to some extent by the Florida Bar. The attorneys associated with the referral services may pay a fee in order to be one of the attorneys that the referral service refers to. Lawyer referral services have existed for many years as a way for attorneys to pool their advertising dollars together for more effective results. Third parties that administer and profit from these attorney referral services must register themselves with the Florida Bar.

Several years ago, a chiropractic office came up with the idea of advertising its services and also referring to injury attorney law firms. The idea was unique because in the past each attorney would either guide their client injured in a Tampa car accident to a medical clinic for care or the client would make their decision without guidance. Under this new system, the auto accident attorney referred the client would be expected to refer that patient back to the clinic or otherwise be threatened with no longer being able to receive referrals from the medical clinic/referral service. This of course creates the potential for significant conflicts of interest since the attorney was rewarded with more clients and potentially punished if the attorney didn't refer the client back to the clinic. This system worked so well that it was copied by a number of others.

Currently the Florida Bar is examining this whole system which has the potential for causing significant problems for the public who is unaware that they are being "traded" back and forth between the clinic and the law firm. If you believe this system is not in the public's best interest, consider contacting the Florida Bar to express your opinion. It is important that you receive excellent legal representation when you are injured in a Tampa car accident. So choose your injury attorney wisely and consider using referrals as a basis for making your decision.

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