MILWAUKEE BAR ASSOCIATION'S
LAWYER REFERRAL AND INFORMATION SERVICE
OPERATIONS MANUAL
General Operations
INTRODUCTION / 3-5
- Employee Expectations
- Disciplinary Actions
- Phone System
- Incoming Calls
- Referrals
- Other Caller Issues
- LRIS Case Types
- LRIS Frequently Asked Questions
- Online Referral Requests
- Overnight Calls
- Inmate Letters
- Weekly Active Roster Confirmation
- Attorney Status
- Monthly Client Surveys
- Quarterly LRIS Report
- Attorney Quarterly Reports
- Processing Returned Quarterly Statements
- Guide Updates
- Mailings
- LRIS Committee
- WCBA Partnership
- Modest Means Panel
- Experience Panels
- Lawyer Hotline
- Internship Forms/Waiver
Operations Manual Introduction
This Operations Manual is intended to serve three main purposes. First, the information in this manual is intended to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the LRIS for new employees and those interested in how the LRIS operates. Secondly, this manual should serve as a periodic refresher for current employees of the LRIS. Lastly, this packet exists to clarify the exact role of the Lawyer Referral and Information Service within the Milwaukee Bar Association. Outlined herein are the needs, goals, and responsibilities of the LRIS as a department. This information will serve as a framework for the operation of the LRIS, and to establish the parameters under which the department will act with the advisement of the LRIS committee.
A Welcome to New Employees
If you have just joined the LRIS, welcome to the department! As we are a department of the MBA, from time to time you will find yourself doing side projects or mailings for the Bar Association, as well as filling in for lunch breaks at the front desk, or (very rarely) attending events. However, the majority of your time will be spent on the LRIS phone system and on related LRIS clerical work.
In short, the Lawyer Referral and Information Service is a division of the Milwaukee Bar Association. We are a non-profit organization, as well as a public service. During business hours, LRIS employees take calls from people who are seeking legal help. It is our job to decipher exactly what the problem is that the caller has, and to refer them to an appropriate LRIS panel attorney or community service organization.
Logic, patience, and creativity are the three things most helpful for an LRIS employee. Often you will be faced with situations unlike any described in this manual, and unlike anything you have ever heard before. However, a skilled LRIS interviewer will be able to use the resources available to find the proper resource for any problem. Most LRIS employees find working here to be legitimately fun and rewarding, and I hope you will as well.
Good luck!
The Milwaukee Bar Association- an Equal Opportunity Employer
Consistent with federal and state law, the Milwaukee Bar Association states its commitment to the concepts of affirmative action and equal opportunity. Neither employment nor programs and activities should be hindered by such prohibited bias factors as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability. Prohibited bias factors will not be permitted to have an adverse influence upon decisions regarding students, employees, or applicants for employment. The Milwaukee Bar Association will continue in its efforts to maintain an institutional environment free of such bias and restates its policy prohibiting the interference of such bias factors in institutional processes.
I am sure you have been introduced to some of the staff here at the MBA. For future reference, here are their phone extensions and e-mail addresses.
Britt Bellinger- LRIS Director
414-276-5931
Jim Temmer- MBA Executive Director
414-276-5934
Katy Borowski- Director of Projects
414-276-5933
Brian Juech- Office Manager
414-276-5930
Sabrina Nunley- CLE Program Director
414-276-5932
Pamela Hill- Accountant
414-276-5935
Employee Expectations
A degree of professionalism is expected from all employees of the LRIS. Unprofessional attitudes and behaviors reflect poorly on our service and the MBA in general to our member attorneys and to the public. LRIS employees should keep in mind:
- The Milwaukee Bar Association has an implied dress code. Mondays through Thursdays, all employees are to take a professional approach to their manner and attire.
- Employees are expected to work during the times that they are scheduled. If something comes up, contact the LRIS Director.
- Report hours worked HONESTLY. If you will be working more or less hours than your schedule dictates, it must be cleared with the director. Discrepancies between hours worked and hours reported on time sheets will NOT be taken lightly.
- Employees are expected to be courteous on the phone. If you are bothered by a particularly frustrating caller, place your phone on DND and take a minute to collect yourself. Yelling at or mocking a caller is never acceptable.
- Employees are expected to be courteous to each other. Any problems should be reported to the LRIS Director.
- Failure to adhere to these expectations will result in disciplinary actions.
Disciplinary Actions
Disciplinary actions are up to the discretion of the LRIS Director and MBA Executive Director. Generally, offenses requiring disciplinary actions will be handled on a case-by-case basis, usually with a verbal warning. More serious offenses or habitual offenses may result in written warnings and/or termination.
Keel-hauling will be reserved for only the most heinous of offenses.
Phone System
Before making any referrals, you must be familiar with the LRIS phone system. Your desk should be equipped with a 3-line display NEC system phone and a headset.
The first thing you must check for is the 'night manager' function. When our office is closed, the office manager activates this function so that LRIS callers are given a pre-recorded message stating that we are closed, and are transferred to the LRIS Director's voicemail. At 8:30 AM, you must make sure that this mode is off. You can tell when night mode is on because on the second line of the three line phone display a black box will appear on the left. If this box is on at 8:30, contact the office manager and they will turn 'night manager' off. At 5:00, the office manager will turn this mode on.
Secondly, you must log on to the LRIS phone system to take calls. You will know whether you are logged on by the first line of the phone display. If it is blank, you are logged off. To log on, lift the receiver and press Login and then number 1. Your phone will now say “log on,” and you will now be able to receive LRIS calls. In order to log off, lift the receiver and press Login and then number 2. If you do not lift the receiver when logging on and off, your phone will make a big loud noise. If this happens, just pick up and hang up the receiver to stop it.
When you receive an LRIS call, the phone will ring and the light in the upper right corner will flash red. When you receive a call directly to your phone, the light will flash green. You can pick up a call with the regular receiver, or with the headset. To use the headset, don't touch the receiver, just press the 'Hdset' button on the top row of your phone. The same button hangs up the headset. The left dial on the headset controls the earpiece volume, while the right controls the mute. When it is set to green, the caller can hear you, when it is red, they cannot.
Whenever you leave your desk for a short time, press 'DND' (Do not disturb), and LRIS calls will never be routed to your phone. The same button de-activates.
Lastly, you can transfer calls by pressing 'Transfer' and the four digit extension you wish to transfer to within the office (the last 4 digits of our 276 numbers). Another way to transfer calls is by pressing Park Set and a digit. Anyone can pick this call up by pressing Park Retrieve and that same digit.
Incoming Calls
Taking incoming phone calls is what an LRIS employee does the most. When we get phone calls can be unpredictable, but we do have regular busy and slow times in the week:
- Monday is our busiest day of the week—many people have problems arise over the weekend, so they will all call on Monday
- Mornings are usually quite busy
- Over lunch (11:00 AM-1:00 PM) is our busiest time—it is also our most successful time, as the majority of the callers at this time are employed.
- Afternoons are usually very quiet in the LRIS, except for 4:30-5:00, when some get out of work.
When taking an incoming call, there are a few things to remember.
- Sometimes, the caller isn't even looking for a referral. We regularly have callers that simply want us to look up a number for them. Be accommodating.
- Always be courteous. Even if someone sounds irrational, they could still have a good case. Also, even if someone has no case, that doesn't mean they won't have one some time in the future, and we want to make sure they call us again.
- Patience and understanding are key. Many of the cases we hear about are quite personal, and callers sometimes get emotional. Be supportive and try to keep the caller calm.
- DON'T GIVE LEGAL ADVICE. Unless you are an attorney, don't practice law over the phone.
- Within reason, we aren't allowed to judge the merit of a case. Just because you think someone has a bad case doesn't mean you shouldn't refer them to an attorney. However, if they are calling because they want to sue their neighbor's dog because it won't stop telling them to burn things, there are probably more appropriate resources available.
- Try to get to the root of the problem. Callers often declare what they need at the beginning of the call. However, almost half of the time they are looking for the wrong thing. This is why you need to keep asking questions, and ultimately find out what is at the root of their problem.
Referrals
So, you've taken the call, interviewed the caller, and now it's time to give them what they're looking for—a referral.
The Money Issue- We at the LRIS have to keep a balance between the two big factors when it comes to money:
- We are a public service. We are not in the business of turning people away because they are broke. There is almost always SOMEONE they can call that will at least offer them some guidance. Use your head, and when necessary, be creative.
- We are a service formed by attorneys, for attorneys. While it's true that some cases we refer do end up being taken on contingency, it's not THAT many. We cannot refer contingency cases. Sometimes people misinterpret what we tell them on the phone, and the last thing we want an attorney to hear is “The LRIS said you would take my case for free.” We have had attorneys quit the LRIS for things like this.
Also, you CAN NOT ask questions like, “How much money do you make?” Instead, ask, “You were looking to HIRE an attorney?”, or “Are you able to pay private attorney fees?”
Attorney Referrals- So, you've decided that the caller needs an attorney. This brings us to The Associate, the software we use for generating referrals.
Under the 'Referral' tab of the main Associate menu, you will find the 'Referral Maintenance' section, where referrals are generated. Fill in the client's name and address. Pressing tab will move you from box to box. Notice that when you move from address to city/state/zip, zip code is selected first. This is because Associate can determine city and state of most Wisconsin zip codes by itself. Note the ‘Dear:’ box after the first name. This is how the client’s name will appear on a client survey. ‘Client E-mail’ can be disregarded.
After you enter a last name, you will notice that the gray box below this information will now be filled by a section called 'Previous Referrals.'Always check to see if we already have their information, so you don't have to ask for their address again. Double-clicking on one of these previous referrals will call up that previous information, so you can double check that it is the same person.
If the client is suspicious about giving their telephone number or address, or does not want to be on 'the list,' (there is no list) click the ‘Exclude’ box so they are not called for a client survey. Also, ask how they heard about our service, using the 'source' drop-down box.
Now it comes time to select the case type. Make sure Referral Type is set to ‘Attorneys.’
In the box next to 'Type:,' either find the appropriate case type in the drop-down menu, or just type in the four or five letter code that corresponds with the case type. A complete listing of the case types and their codes follows this section.
You can also search based on the languages an attorney speaks. Be warned, however, there tend to not be many multi-lingual attorneys on our panel.
This is also where you can select a geographic location for our attorneys.
Once you have selected all of the search criteria, hit. This will generate a list of all the attorneys within the scope of your criteria, in reverse order of when they were last referred.
The 'Previous Referrals' box will now turn into a box called 'Referral Choices,' with all pertinent attorneys listed. Try to always refer the first attorney on the list to the caller. Tell them the name and phone number, and if requested, the address. If asked for their credentials, simply tell them that they are in good standing with the Wisconsin and Milwaukee Bar Associations, and are up to date with their liability insurance.
Along the bottom of the Referral screen is a row of buttons. Once an attorney is selected, the 'Additional Individual' button allows you to select multiple attorneys for referral purposes. However, it is recommended that you use this option sparingly. If we give everyone two or three referrals, the attorney(s) that the clients do not pick still move to the bottom of the rotation. To keep things fair, try to limit most people to one referral at a time. If someone has a problem with this, simply tell them “if for any reason it doesn't work out with this attorney, feel free to give us a call back and we can refer you to someone else.”
The leftmost button, ‘Add new record,’works the same as pressing enter when selecting an attorney from the ‘Referral Choices’ box, as well as clearing the information when the referral is complete.
The 'Clear Form' button on the left right side of the screen will clear any entered information before a referral is given. Lastly is the 'Close' button. I think you can figure this one out.
Once you have mastered these steps, you know all there is to know about the Associate's Referral system.
Other Caller Issues
Occasionally, you will receive a call that doesn't fall into the category of 'needing a referral.' Here are the basic arch-types of 'other' calls:
- Collect calls- On many occasions, usually from prisoners, we receive collect call requests. The Milwaukee Bar Association does not accept collect calls.
- Relay calls- Every so often, the LRIS will receive calls from someone using a relay call service. If you have never taken a relay call, the relay operator can give you directions when you receive these type of calls. Always remember, be patient and curious. These calls can take some time, and the means of communication may be frustrating, but these callers are hearing impaired and need legal assistance.
- Directory/forgetful callers- Sometimes, callers just need a phone number to go along with a name they already have. You can look up in-state attorneys at the Wisconsin Bar website ( using the 'Lawyer Directory' in the upper-right corner. Many callers will have incomplete information, so use the city, county, or organization (law firm) to limit your results.
- Callers asking for your name- Many times, callers will ask for your name. Usually, saying 'This is the Lawyer Referral Service of the Milwaukee Bar Association' is enough for people, but sometimes they will want your name. Usually this is just for comfort's sake, as it tends to put callers more at ease. However, never feel obligated to give out your name. Also, except for attorneys, do not give out the MBA address over the phone. If there are any problems, refer to the LRIS Director.
- Angry callers- However nice you may be on the phone, there is always the occasional caller who just wants to pick a fight. These callers can be frustrating, but do try to be understanding, as they are probably acting like they are because they are stuck in a difficult situation. Try your best to diffuse the situation, but do not fight with callers. If they will not relent, it is better to say “I am very sorry, but I will not be able to help you any further. Goodbye.” and hang up then it would be to egg them on. Refer any problems to the LRIS Director.
- Privacy aficionados- These callers generally fall into two categories, identifiable by their distinctive battle cries:
- “Are you an attorney? (no...) I only want to talk to an attorney!” Some callers don't want to explain anything to you, they would 'rather just explain it to the attorney.' Try to get them to realize that everything they say is confidential, and the only information we record about them is the generic case type. Also, we need a brief summary of the legal situation they are in, so that we can refer them to exactly the right type of attorney.
- “I'm not going to give you my address!” Many people think that we are going to sell their name and address if they give it to us, as some companies do. Inform them that it will only be kept in our private files for tracking purposes and for the attorney that we refer them to. All information is confidential, and only the small handful of people in the office would ever have access to it. If clients ever seem hesitant to give us their address, be sure to click 'exclude' when referring them, because sending them a client survey will probably make them angry.
- Attorneys- The attorneys on our LRIS panel call us quite frequently. Remember, they are why we are here. They are the ones who are paying for us to be here, and we must do everything possible to appease LRIS attorneys. Usually their calls usually fit into the following categories:
- Quarterly question- Attorneys seem to frequently be unclear about filling out a quarterly, remitting fees, or where they are to mail the quarterly(of course, give THEM our address...). Be as helpful as possible, but if you do not know the answer, refer them to the LRIS director.
- Sub-letting referrals- One of the most common question for attorneys to have is “where do I send referred callers that I can't help?” Usually they want to know if they can refer these callers to someone in their office that handles those type of cases. The LRIS Committee has determined that sending LRIS referrals to someone else in-house is acceptable in moderation, but the initial attorney would be responsible for tracking any fees generated from the case.
- New attorneys- From time to time, attorneys will call us because they are interested in joining our service. Always be sure that they know that they are only eligible to be on the LRIS panel if they are members of the MBA. We can fax, e-mail, or postal mail one or both of these applications to attorneys.
- “I haven't had any referral calls lately...”- This is the hardest call to take from attorneys, because we can't do much about it. Basically, if someone is lacking in referrals, it comes from either location or practice area. Attorneys that have an office in some of the more distant suburbs can go long stretches of time without receiving referrals, and it's simply because not many people call from those areas. Many attorneys also only practice in a limited area of law, and we might not get many callers for those areas. Always refer these calls to the LRIS Director.
LRIS CASE TYPES
Frequently Asked Questions