There are over 200,000 lawyers in the state of California.  How does one go about choosing one of these lawyers?  The State Bar of California plainly says that it cannot offer attorney referrals.  Luckily, there are other options open to those looking for a lawyer.

First, most of the local County Bar Associations offer attorney referral services.  While these referral services are a bit limited ? often offering just one lawyer referral ? they do provide a good first step.  Most of these services are free, although some charge a small fee.

Also, the American Bar Association?s (ABA) website offers information on other local attorney referral services.  After selecting California, a number of ABA-certified lawyer referral services are listed (along with some County Bar Associations).  Many of these services do not have an online presence, though, and can only be reached by phone.

Finally, a quick web search will yield several large private attorney referral services that cover California.  These services are able to offer referrals for lawyers skilled in the area of law you are concerned with.  Also, some of these services will only provide referrals for lawyers who are interested in taking you as a client.  These services also usually have a large database of legal information on their websites, and are mostly free.

While the State Bar of California does not offer attorney referrals, there are other resources people can use.  Between County Bar Associations, local services, and large private attorney referral services, finding a lawyer should be relatively easy. Follow these links to useful websites for evaluating various Lawyer Referral Services in Orange County CA, Lawyer Referral Services in Riverside County, Lawyer Referral Services in Santa Clara County CA and Lawyer Referral Services in Sacramento County CA..