The Service Is the Nation’s Oldest, Largest Non-Profit Lawyer Referral Service & Most Comprehensive Public Legal Resource in Los Angeles County
LOS ANGELES– LAWFUEL – Legal Announcement Service –On October 11, 2007, the Los Angeles County Bar Association will celebrate 70 years of service to the community through its Lawyer Referral and Information Service (“LRIS”) at a reception in Downtown Los Angeles for participating LRIS attorneys, local elected officials, and community leaders.
LRIS 70th Anniversary Honorary Chairperson Cristina Perez, host of “Cristina’s Court” on FOX television and a practicing attorney, commented, “Being the oldest and largest non-profit lawyer referral service in the country carries with it a responsibility to also be the best. That means providing, easy, open access to the finest practicing attorneys in Los Angeles for all members of the community.”
The LRIS is a public resource, available to anyone looking for a qualified, reliable attorney to handle any of a wide variety of legal topics. With more than 500 experienced, highly qualified attorneys who specialize in 162 different areas of law, the LRIS is the oldest and largest non-profit lawyer referral service in the nation.
Founded in 1937 as a resource for practicing attorneys who needed professional assistance in specialized areas of law, the “Experienced Lawyer Service” quickly began attracting inquiries from the general public. In its first year of operation, the service received fewer than a thousand inquiries. Nearly seven decades later, in 2006 the renamed “Lawyer Referral and Information Service received more than 100,000 calls.
LRIS Directing Attorney Patricia Holt noted, “Because the LRIS is a part of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, consumers can turn to us for legal assistance with complete trust and confidence. Unlike many of the for-profit lawyer referral services that exist today, the LRIS is very selective about the attorneys it admits to the program. The LRIS is not an attorney marketing service — it is a bona fide public legal resource, bound by the high ethical and professional standards of the Bar Association.”
The LRIS also offers a companion service called “SmartLaw,” that is a free, bilingual telephone hotline with over 200 hours of recorded messages that answer legal questions and provide information on a wide variety of legal topics.
Lawyer Referral and Information Service: (213)-243-1525/ http://www.smartlaw.org.
SmartLaw recorded legal information: (213)-243-1500/ http://www.smartlaw.org.
