Prompt service. I got the assistance and guidance advice I needed.

Took my referral payment, rushed through the questioning to determine what kind of lawyer I needed, and were then unable to provide me with a lawyer who handles my kind of cases. Refused to issue a refund.

Got help, talk to someone

The fee was awesome. The first referral didn't work out, so we were given another attorney without paying again. (you get two referrals for one price, $41.00.) We needed a trust/will attorney and I would recommend using SCCBA Referral Service. The young lady I spoke to was very helpful and understanding as I was trying to explain that I was calling for a friend and not myself. This referral service was recommended to me buy my attorney who resides in San Francisco.

Found this process to be very easy, staff was great. Referral attorney Mr. Abbott was quite delightful to speak to & provided me with sound advice. If you ever need to speak to an attorney in a specific field & don’t want to waste time just calling around this is the best way to get the help you need in a more efficient & affordable way.

Finally got a referral after 2 tries. In the case of the first, the attorney referred wasn't going to be in town when my hearing was scheduled. So, they recommended that I try again with the SCCBA. I did and got referred to another attorney. I paid $41 for a 30 min consultation, up front, at the beginning of my 1st attempt to find a lawyer. I have been working through an eviction services company, hoping to keep costs reasonable and haven't been that satisfied with the quality. I am now getting ready for the hearing and didn't feel satisfied that I would get to consult with the attorney via the eviction company only just before the time of the hearing on the day of it. My consultation with the attorney from the SCCBA put me at ease about the case. He said the attorney that I will get, he probably knows, and that one knows this part of the law very well. My cost for the attorney to represent us at the hearing will probably be on the order of $350. Hopefully it will only take part of the morning of the hearing. If it takes longer then it will cost more. The SCCBA attorney helped me feel that we will probably win because we've done our part and done things the right way in our case. We are trying to evict a family member who doesn't think that they should have to pay anything to live on our property.

Might work for others. Not much help for me

The Santa Clara County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service is a good thing to know about and can be important. It helped me one time, but was not so useful two other times. My biggest complaint was that there are a lot of lawyers who use this service as a way to fish for clients in their hour of need and then sock it to them.

For example, I wanted to find out about Pre-Nuptial agreements, uncontested agreed on by both parties. The lawyer said for a simple Pre-Nup to cover a house could cost around $10,000 and that both I and my fiance would need separate lawyers. Then they try to scare you by telling you that even if you follow the rules of assetts like a house owned before the marriage that the law will help take them away in case of divorce. This is the kind of lawyer I resent and refuse to work with.

The costs of legal services can be huge, and open-ended, and some of these lawyers end the session early do you need to go back to them at their normal price to get the whole story. In other words this is a bit hit and miss, but you can get lucky and find and honest and competent lawyer who will help you. Be persistent.