Attorney-client matching
Encyclopedia
Attorney-Client Matching (ACM), which has sometimes been referred to as online legal matching, is a subset of legal advertising
that allows participating attorneys to be matched with potential clients seeking legal representation. ACM websites allow users to submit their legal needs online by practice area and location. Law firms or lawyers that opt to use these services are then matched with clients by need and location.
("ABA") established its first ethics code, known as the Canons of Professional Ethics, which condemned all advertisement and solicitation by lawyers. Due to the progression of the legal profession and the desire to update the Canons of Professional Ethics, the ABA created the Model Code of Professional Responsibility ("Model Code") in 1969. The Model Code was an effort by the ABA to create practical rules that went "beyond the pretty details of form and manners" and addressed "the chained relationship of the lawyer to his clients, to his professional brethren and to the public."
In 1977, the United States Supreme Court, in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona
, ruled that lawyer advertising is partially protected by the First Amendment
. The Supreme Court rejected the argument by the Arizona Bar that attorney advertising was "inherently misleading" and "tarnish the dignified public image of the profession." The Court found "the postulated connection between advertising and the erosion of true professionalism to be severely strained," and noted that "lack of legal advertising could be viewed as the profession's failure to 'reach out and serve the community.'"
With the internet boom in the 1990s, many consumers turned to the web to search for goods and services. Before the boom, in many instances consumers would rely upon the Yellow Pages and referral services to find an attorney. Given that consumer habits changed and working within the regulations of the Bates v. Arizona State Bar outcome, lawyers and law firms also changed their habits of presenting their services to consumers online. Two key categories currently define online legal advertising: online legal directories and attorney-client matching services.
.com and Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyers.com provide lawyer directories and rank attorneys according to their credentials and experience. The system allows clients to submit requests for legal work to a community of legal practitioners. The legal practitioners then review the requests, and may then submit bids to work with the clients who can then choose which practitioners they wish to hire, or hire none at all, and submit feedback about the work of the legal practitioners.
, Sharktank and LegalOpinion (Sharktank and LegalOpinion are now defunct) were the first to provide the attorney-client matching as a service.
The Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) responded to the Supreme Court of Alabama's June 26, 2002 invitation to comment on the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct entitled Information about Legal Services. In this response, the FTC "encourages competition in the licensed professions, including the legal profession, to the maximum extent compatible with other state and federal goals." Additionally, on May 26, 2006, the FTC commented on the State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee's consideration on whether or not it is ethical for a Texas attorney to participate in an online legal matching service. The FTC determined that "online legal matching services are a valuable option for Texans: they are likely to reduce the consumers' cost for finding legal representation and have the potential to increase completion among attorneys."
Larger corporations, such as Thomson Reuters
' LegalConnection.com powered by FindLaw
and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyers.com, allow users to search their directories for lawyers as well as obtain legal representation through form based attorney-client matching.
Subsequent companies to enter this field have been CasePost, LegalFish, JDFinder, and Total Attorneys.
In 2003, the Utah State Bar partnered with LegalMatch as an additional resource available for Utah attorneys to receive screened cases of potential new clients and to help consumers find a pre-screened Utah lawyer.
Attorney-client matching websites charge attorneys membership fees to participate in the service. Users of ACM websites complete confidential, form-based submissions for free, and the attorneys receive their information. Some services allow the attorneys to choose the cases while others allow the client to select the best attorney for their issue.
"One concern about such services relates to client confidentiality. Normally, when you hire a lawyer and tell him/her your story, the lawyer is bound by rules of ethics and the courts to keep that information absolutely confidential. But you lose your confidentiality if you share the information ..."
Legal advertising
Legal advertising is advertising by lawyers and law firms.Legal marketing is a broader term referring to advertising and other practices, such as client relations and public relations.-In the United States:...
that allows participating attorneys to be matched with potential clients seeking legal representation. ACM websites allow users to submit their legal needs online by practice area and location. Law firms or lawyers that opt to use these services are then matched with clients by need and location.
History
In 1908, the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
("ABA") established its first ethics code, known as the Canons of Professional Ethics, which condemned all advertisement and solicitation by lawyers. Due to the progression of the legal profession and the desire to update the Canons of Professional Ethics, the ABA created the Model Code of Professional Responsibility ("Model Code") in 1969. The Model Code was an effort by the ABA to create practical rules that went "beyond the pretty details of form and manners" and addressed "the chained relationship of the lawyer to his clients, to his professional brethren and to the public."
In 1977, the United States Supreme Court, in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona
In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, , the Supreme Court first allowed lawyers to advertise their services. By holding that lawyer advertising was a kind of commercial speech protected by the First Amendment, the Court upset the tradition among lawyers that it demeaned the profession as a whole for...
, ruled that lawyer advertising is partially protected by the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
. The Supreme Court rejected the argument by the Arizona Bar that attorney advertising was "inherently misleading" and "tarnish the dignified public image of the profession." The Court found "the postulated connection between advertising and the erosion of true professionalism to be severely strained," and noted that "lack of legal advertising could be viewed as the profession's failure to 'reach out and serve the community.'"
With the internet boom in the 1990s, many consumers turned to the web to search for goods and services. Before the boom, in many instances consumers would rely upon the Yellow Pages and referral services to find an attorney. Given that consumer habits changed and working within the regulations of the Bates v. Arizona State Bar outcome, lawyers and law firms also changed their habits of presenting their services to consumers online. Two key categories currently define online legal advertising: online legal directories and attorney-client matching services.
Online Legal Directories
Online legal directory services pool attorney information in one place for consumers to search for attorneys on their own. Online directories can be seen as internet versions of the Yellow Pages. State bar associations and websites like AvvoAvvo
Avvo.com is an expert-only Q&A forum where people can ask legal and health questions of lawyers and doctors, for free. The Q&A forum is backed by an online directory of doctors and lawyers licensed in the United States. Avvo provides listings to which doctors and attorneys can submit their own...
.com and Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyers.com provide lawyer directories and rank attorneys according to their credentials and experience. The system allows clients to submit requests for legal work to a community of legal practitioners. The legal practitioners then review the requests, and may then submit bids to work with the clients who can then choose which practitioners they wish to hire, or hire none at all, and submit feedback about the work of the legal practitioners.
Attorney-Client Matching Services
Attorney-client matching provides lawyers with the opportunity to increase exposure and reach their audience online. Companies like San Francisco, CA-based LegalMatchLegalMatch
LegalMatch is a private U.S. corporation established in 1999 as a free, online legal matching service to help people find prescreened local lawyers, and to help attorneys get leads matching their legal specialty. LegalMatch operates its legal matching service in all 50 United States...
, Sharktank and LegalOpinion (Sharktank and LegalOpinion are now defunct) were the first to provide the attorney-client matching as a service.
The Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(FTC) responded to the Supreme Court of Alabama's June 26, 2002 invitation to comment on the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct entitled Information about Legal Services. In this response, the FTC "encourages competition in the licensed professions, including the legal profession, to the maximum extent compatible with other state and federal goals." Additionally, on May 26, 2006, the FTC commented on the State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee's consideration on whether or not it is ethical for a Texas attorney to participate in an online legal matching service. The FTC determined that "online legal matching services are a valuable option for Texans: they are likely to reduce the consumers' cost for finding legal representation and have the potential to increase completion among attorneys."
Larger corporations, such as Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
' LegalConnection.com powered by FindLaw
FindLaw
FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters that provides online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. FindLaw was created by Stacy Stern, Martin Roscheisen and Tim Stanley in 1995, and was acquired by Thomson West in 2001....
and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyers.com, allow users to search their directories for lawyers as well as obtain legal representation through form based attorney-client matching.
Subsequent companies to enter this field have been CasePost, LegalFish, JDFinder, and Total Attorneys.
In 2003, the Utah State Bar partnered with LegalMatch as an additional resource available for Utah attorneys to receive screened cases of potential new clients and to help consumers find a pre-screened Utah lawyer.
How Attorney-Client Matching Works
An increasing number of people are turning to the internet to search for legal services and are relying on phone books and offline media less and less. According to Reuters, over 9 million consumers will search online for legal services each month. Attorney-client matching services provide both clients and attorneys with information about each other before they actually speak, which intends to save time for both parties and them to make better decisions.Attorney-client matching websites charge attorneys membership fees to participate in the service. Users of ACM websites complete confidential, form-based submissions for free, and the attorneys receive their information. Some services allow the attorneys to choose the cases while others allow the client to select the best attorney for their issue.
Controversy
"... it's a prostitution of the legal profession ... it leads to lawyers fighting to undercut each other.""One concern about such services relates to client confidentiality. Normally, when you hire a lawyer and tell him/her your story, the lawyer is bound by rules of ethics and the courts to keep that information absolutely confidential. But you lose your confidentiality if you share the information ..."
See also
- LawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
- Law firmLaw firmA law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
- Attorney's feeAttorney's feeAttorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Attorney fees are separate from fines, compensatory and punitive damages, and from court costs in a...
- Attorney-client privilegeAttorney-client privilegeAttorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....
- Legal advertisingLegal advertisingLegal advertising is advertising by lawyers and law firms.Legal marketing is a broader term referring to advertising and other practices, such as client relations and public relations.-In the United States:...
- Attorney-client matching