NextLaw.pro Does Not Make Referrals, And Does Not Send User Information to Attorneys
NextLaw.pro is not a legal referral service.
NextLaw.pro hosts advertisements by attorneys, but does not make referrals. For convenience to the user, the attorney advertisement are listed by geographically and often by subject matter. An individual can peruse the advertisements and select one or more if he or she wishes, or not. The advertisements are cycled and not listed in priority, although there are two tiers, sponsored advertisements and regular advertisements.
Business and Profession Code Section 6155 does not apply to NextLaw.pro as it simply hosts advertising, and there is no referral.
The following generally explains that because NextLaw.pro does not refer cases to attorneys, it does not need to register as a legal referral service.
The 1994 amendment ..(Stats. 1994, ch. 711, § 2, subd. (h)(1), (2).) …permitted joint attorney advertising and provided that “permissible joint advertising, among other things, identifies by name the advertising attorneys or law firms whom the consumer of legal services may select and initiate contact with.” (Stats. 1994, ch. 711, § 2, subd. (h)(1).)
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 774-75 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
It also added that “[c]ertifiable referral activity, involves, among other things, some person or entity other than the consumer and advertising attorney or law firms which, in person, electronically, or otherwise, refers the consumer to an attorney or law firm not identified in the advertising.” (Stats. 1994, ch. 711, § 2, subd. (h)(2).)
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 774-75 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
“Viewed in this context, the statutory framework surrounding section 6155 supports our interpretation of a referral as the act of directing a potential client to an attorney.”
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 773 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
First, the statute provides that an individual or entity “shall not operate for the direct or indirect purpose, in whole or in part, of referring potential clients to attorneys, and no attorney shall accept a referral of such potential clients” unless the referring individual or entity is registered and meets certain standards ( § 6155, subd. (a)(1), italics added.) Second, an individual or entity that does refer potential clients to attorneys must be “operated in conformity with minimum standards for a lawyer referral service established by the State Bar or Supreme Court.” (Ibid ., italics added.) Third, “[c]ertifiable referral activity involves, among other things, some person or entity other than the consumer and advertising attorney or law firms which, in person, electronically, or otherwise refers the consumer to an attorney or law firm not identified in the advertising.” ( § 6155, subd. (h)(2), italics added.)
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 770 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 770 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
Section 6155 provides no definition of “referring” or “referral.” Instead, the statutory text appears to focus on the act of connecting potential clients with attorneys, with the additional requirement that the covered individual or entity operate for the direct or indirect purpose of doing so. ( § 6155, subd. (a).) Read in the context of the statute, the plain meaning of the term “referral” means no more than the “act or an instance of sending or directing to another for information, service, consideration, or decision.” (Black’s Law Dict. (11th ed. Westlaw 2019).) Other dictionary definitions support this interpretation. For example, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines “refer,” as relevant here, as to “send or direct for treatment, aid, information, or decision.” (Webster’s 9th New Collegiate Dict. (1987) p. 989.) Even LegalMatch’s cited definition—”to send to another for business or another matter, e.g., to refer a client to another attorney”—focuses on the act of directing the client to the attorney and contains no requirement that the referring party make an initial judgment regarding the client’s circumstances. (Refer , TheLaw.com Dictionary < https://dictionary.thelaw.com/refer/> [as of November 26, 2019].)
Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 42 Cal.App.5th 760, 771 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019)
NextLaw.pro does not act and does not direct a potential client to an attorney.