Bar tells Avvo Advisor it is a lawyer referral service.

A private company program that offers consumers a 15-minute consultation with a lawyer for $39 is a lawyer referral service under Bar rules, according to the Board of Governors.

At its December 8 meeting in Amelia Island, the Board of Governors unanimously approved the recommendation of the Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics that the Avvo Advisor online system for connecting potential clients with questions to lawyers meets the Bar's definition of a referral service.

The action has implications for nonlawyer companies that are moving from rating lawyers or providing legal forms to linking lawyers and potential clients. In addition to this recommendation, the BRCPE is discussing the ethical propriety of different ways of charging for referrals that can range from a fee per referral to a split of the proceeds in a referred

"Our rules define a lawyer referral service as any person or group of persons, association, or professional entity that seeks a fee or charge for causing the direct or indirect referral of potential clients to a lawyer drawn from a specific group of lawyers," committee Chair Mike Hooker said.

He said a Bar member asked the Bar Ethics Department whether the Avvo Advisor program qualified under that rule as a referral service. The inquirer said the program works from the Avvo website and consumers can pick a lawyer from a list provided by Avvo or let Avvo contact the lawyer.

The Bar's Standing Committee on Advertising considered the matter and forwarded it to the board for guidance.

At the BRCPE meeting the day before the board meeting, Avvo General Counsel Josh King said when the potential client does not select an attorney from the list of "top-rated" Avvo attorneys, Avvo texts lawyers who participate in the Advisor program and the first one to respond--not one selected by Avvo--gets the referral. He also explained the $39 payment goes directly to the responding lawyer, who then remits the $10 "marketing fee" to Avvo.

"BRCPE voted 9-0 to present a recommendation to this board that Avvo Advisor as described above meets the definition of a lawyer referral service," Hooker said.

"This is a difficult question for this board, it's going to set a lot of precedent for issues we are going to have to deal with that are related," President-elect Designate John Stewart said. "The decision could affect a large number of our constituents. There are at least, anecdotally, a fair number of our constituents who participate in...