Dear Editor:
I chime in re colleague Vetter’s excellent suggestions to improve our bar, particularly regarding bar finances and lawyer referral.
1. In 1973, bar dues were a fraction of today’s. The Justice Center made them jump many fold. Mandatory CLE added thousands to remain active. The Law Center is now paid. Bar dues should reduce. Isn’t the bar’s ideal to benefit the bar members as well as the public? Do not fall for the trap. The monster of bureaucracy has an insatiable appetite. However, please remember the little guy – the sole practitioner and foreign aliens with little English ability.
2. Utah Lawyer Referral died several years ago for a certain bar segment and certain society segment. For a few hundred dollars a year I received many immigrant inquiries in my solo international practice. Then in the guise of making lawyer referral “self sufficient,” the human element was removed and a California computer service replaced it. Now attorneys pay many hundreds for one category listing, and computer illiterate and English illiterate are effectively excluded. It was a bad idea. I am glad to hear we are rethinking lawyer referral.
3. No service of the bar should be “self sufficient.” Bar income should be divided by the commission between all services, lawyer referral included. Cannot the bar afford at least one receptionist to field referral inquiries? Nevada can. They not only have one receptionist – but three. And they receive on average 10 inquiries per month asking not for Nevada attorney referrals – but for lawyers in Utah! Does that tell you something about how lawyer referral in Utah has gone amiss? It sure does to me. There is a need not being met.
George M. McCune