Lawyers Advising Lawyers
Providing quick access to an attorney advisor
Not every lawyer has the luxury of being able to walk down the hall to consult with a colleague when a perplexing legal question arises. But that doesn’t mean they have nowhere to turn for help.
Since 2013, The Florida Bar, in partnership with the Young Lawyers Division, has offered Lawyers Advising Lawyers, a peer-to-peer service giving members across the state access to veteran attorneys who can help answer procedural and substantive legal questions.
And now the service has a fresh, new, easy-to-use online look.
Lawyers Advising Lawyers gives tenured attorneys a platform to assist lawyers with issues they have previously dealt with during their career. The service utilizes technology to provide immediate interaction by phone or email with other lawyers working in different parts of the state.
Schifino
“At The Florida Bar, we continue to identify new opportunities to leverage technology in a way that provides greater resources for our members, and adds more value to their practices,” said Bar President Bill Schifino. “Lawyers Advising Lawyers is the latest example of this effort, and is breaking down geographic and generational barriers, while putting information directly into the hands of those who need it most.”
YLD President Katherine Hurst Miller of New Smyrna Beach said one of her goals this year was to make the services offered by the division more widely known and the new look Lawyers Advising Lawyers website is part of that effort.
“It is a really neat program and I hope the entire Bar takes advantage of it,” said Miller, noting the program consists of more than 300 attorney advisors who volunteer to assist other Bar members. Advice is offered in over 60 areas of law and procedure.
“Through Lawyers Advising Lawyers, our members can get personalized guidance in real time, while also making connections with peers they otherwise would not have the opportunity to meet,” Miller said.
Miller
YLD board member Travis Mydock of St. Johns chaired the committee that retooled the Lawyers Advising Lawyers website.
“The program has been around for a while, but it needed an update to bring it into the new age,” he said.
Mydock said the YLD will work at getting the word out about the availability of the Lawyers Advising Lawyers program at all the Bar’s major meetings.
“It is for everyone, not just young lawyers,” Mydock said.
YLD board member Chrystal Thorton of Lakeland has served as an advisor with the program and enjoys the interactions she has with fellow family law attorneys.
“In answering questions or brainstorming with other lawyers, I find myself staying current and fresh on legal issues, and ultimately leaving the call with a new friend and resource,” Thorton said.
“That is what the LAL is about — helping each other to provide quality legal representation for our clients.”
Scott Westheimer of Sarasota has been involved with the program for years and said LAL is an “extraordinary” no-cost member benefit.
“The interaction between participant and advisor, the advice given, and the mentorship are truly top notch and can help all lawyers with the daily practice of law in the increasingly complex and difficult environment in which we practice,” said Westheimer, a member of the Bar Board of Governors.
To qualify as an advisor, attorneys must have a minimum of five years of experience in their respective area(s) of advice and must be a member of The Florida Bar in good standing. Participating advisors will receive one CLE credit per consultation for a total of five CLE credits per year.
How It Works
If you confront an issue in an area of law or procedure unfamiliar to you, the LAL program provides quick access to an attorney advisor who likely has the experience to help.
A brief consultation with a LAL attorney advisor should assist you in deciding the best approach for resolving the legal issue.
The program is designed to supplement, rather than act as a substitute for, the exercise of independent judgment by the attorney seeking assistance.
The inquiring attorney first identifies a legal issue for which he or she needs advice. The inquiring attorney then contacts the LAL program to be matched with an attorney advisor.
The inquiring attorney can be matched with an attorney advisor through use of the LAL website, by email, or by phone (800-342-8060, ext. 5675).
If the inquiring attorney chooses to use the website, his or her Bar number will be required. Next, the inquiring attorney should select the relevant area of law or procedure for advice. An automatic referral will then be generated with the contact information of an attorney advisor registered with the LAL program who has knowledge of the area of law chosen by the inquiring attorney.
Within 48 hours, the inquiring attorney should contact the attorney advisor by phone or email. Prior to discussing the specifics of any issue, the advisor attorney must perform a conflicts search. The inquiring attorney must identify all known adverse parties and opposing counsel and provide this information to the attorney advisor. If no potential conflicts appear, the inquiring attorney will then describe the issue(s) concisely, and the attorney advisor will provide assistance.
After a brief discussion with the attorney advisor, the inquiring attorney should exercise his/her own independent judgment to resolve the legal issue for the client.
Becoming an advisor is easy. To enroll, simply click the “Become an Advisor” button on the website and check the box next to the areas in which you are willing to be contacted to provide advice. Potential advisors then review the “Requirements of Advisor, Advisor Acknowledgement” and certify the information is true and correct by clicking on the “I Agree” button. They will then be contacted by the Bar when their contact information has been shared with an inquiring attorney.
Miller said she doesn’t think a statewide bar is the place to do real detailed mentoring, but programs like Lawyers Advising Lawyers may help cultivate mentoring relationships.
“I can’t help someone doing medical malpractice in Miami,” Miller said. “My ability to mentor that person or be mentored by that person is limited by geography or practice area. But the statewide Bar can absolutely connect people with these discreet questions in specific areas of law. If I have a question in my area of condo law, the Bar can connect me with someone who is knowledgeable in that.
“Maybe a mentoring relationship will come out of it or maybe just a quick question will be answered,” Miller said.
