Atwater calls for ban on referral services.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater has called on the Bar to ban lawyer referral services.

The CFO's request came just days after the Bar's Special Committee on Lawyer Referral Services --which has been studying the issue since March --began formulating its recommendations to deal with concerns involving referral services.

In a November 15 letter to Bar President Scott Hawkins, Atwater said individuals "disguised as legitimate referral services have been able to prey on society for so long" and perpetuate fraud, particularly related to medical and legal claims stemming from auto accidents.

"This must stop, and I believe the Bar is in the best position to expeditiously institute a permanent ban against lawyer referral services," Atwater wrote.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The letter came four days after the Bar's special committee discussed, but took no action, on a ban on referral services not linked to The Florida Bar or a local bar. Members of the special committee said they didn't think such a ban would be effective. (See story, page 7.)

(Banning the services would also require a change in Bar rules, which requires action by the Supreme Court.)

"The proliferation of referral services over the past few years and the blanketing of the state of Florida with radio, TV, and print media advertising their 'services,' supports an immediate and aggressive stance by the Bar," Atwater said in his letter. "I know that The Florida Bar is concerned with promoting the professionalism of lawyers in our state, pursuing justice, and making sure the public is neither misled nor misguided by members of the Bar. Florida's citizens who have limited or no contact with the legal system rely upon the integrity of the legal profession and can be influenced by the pervasive advertising of these referral services.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"My department has received many confidential tips regarding the incestuous interactions between the participants in these referral services. It is intolerable for a quid pro quo relationship to exist between or among lawyers and healthcare professionals where the physical well-being of Florida's citizens is concerned; not to mention the impact these improper relationships have on the cost of insurance premiums."

Board of Governors member Grier Wells, who chairs the Bar's Special Committee on Lawyer Referral Services, said Atwater may be asking too much.

"Just as we cannot regulate nonlawyers who may own referral services, the...