If you need a lawyer in New York City, it can be difficult to know where to start looking.  The New York State Bar Association does not provide any help, since it only provides lawyer referrals for rural areas.  However, each of the County Bar Associations that make up New York City offer attorney referral services.

The New York County Lawyer’s Association (covering Manhattan), Queens County Bar Association, and Bronx County Lawyer’s Association all offer an attorney referral service by telephone.  The total cost is only $35 (NY and Queens offer a free service with a $35 consultation fee, while the Bronx charges $35 for the service but offers a free consultation).

The Brooklyn Bar Association website has an online referral service.  After filling out a short form providing basic information about yourself and your situation, you will receive a lawyer referral within one to two days.  This service is free, and the initial consultation fee is $25.

Finally, the Richmond County Bar Association (covering Staten Island) offers an attorney referral service on its website.  After inputting the area of law you are concerned with and preferred language, the service provides a list of lawyer referrals.  This can be a bit frustrating, though, as the list can be extensive.  Also, while this service is free, there is no information on how much the initial consultation fee will be.

The County Bar Associations of New York City are all independent of each other, but millions of people travel between these counties every day.  For that reason, it may be frustrating to get lawyer referrals from several different services.  If that is a problem, you may want to consider using a private attorney referral service such as LegalMatch to locate qualified New York attorneys.

 

You can read more on this website: Lawyer Referral Services in New York County.