Bar referral service will cover Dade.

The Bar's Lawyer Referral Service will soon add Miami-Dade County to its coverage area.

The Bar's LRS will begin making referrals in Miami-Dade County beginning October 1, which coincides with the publishing of the new phone books, according to Karen Kelly, director of the Bar's public service programs.

Kelly also invites Miami-Dade lawyers to join the Bar's LRS. The service refers callers to an attorney in their county who practices the type of law requested.

Under The Florida Bar's Lawyer Referral Service, attorneys charge clients $25 for an initial 30-minute office consultation. Personal circumstances might qualify a client for a free half-hour session with one of a special panel of attorneys willing to handle cases on Low Fee, Elderly, Disability, and AIDS Law panels.

More than 1,200 attorneys participate in the lawyer referral service program statewide. Florida Bar members in good standing who have an office in a county covered by the Bar referral service are eligible to join the service by completing an application and submitting a $125 membership fee. The attorney must also carry at least $100,000 in professional liability insurance.

LRS clerks log a consumer's name, telephone number, and brief description of their legal problems into a computerized referral system, which...