- Each member agrees to provide referred clients timely and quality legal services at a competitive rate by lawyers knowledgeable in their legal specialty. Member firms receiving referrals must acknowledge the referrals to the referring firms and the client within 24 hours of receipt of the referral. Member firms also agree to regularly communicate with all clients concerning the status of their matter. Members are obligated to communicate fees, in writing, to clients either before or within a reasonable time after the initial engagement.
- All member firms are obligated to provide the Executive Vice-President with quarterly reports of all matters originating with the Network members. This enables the Network to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the referral process.
- Each firm is obligated to maintain an effective conflict avoidance system. Conflicts must be addressed immediately and according to the applicable rules of professional responsibility.
- Alternative dispute resolution procedures are increasingly important to clients. All member firms are encouraged to consider and recommend ADR to clients, where appropriate.
- All members are committed to responding to reasonable requests for relevant management and legal specialty information.
- The maintenance of professional liability insurance is a condition of membership of the Network.
- All member firms recognize the need for continuing legal education and will maintain a continuing program of legal education for all lawyers and, as appropriate, for law related support staff.
- Member firms may terminate membership on a 60 day notice. The Network reserves the right, after proper inquiry, to terminate the membership of any member for violation of the membership policies or without cause or reason upon 60 days notice, by a vote of 60% of the Advisory Board.
- Membership in the Network does not create an agency, partnership, joint venture, franchise or fiduciary relationship between member firms and the Network of Leading Law Forms and/or its members. The Network of Leading Law Firms does not practice law. Legal services rendered by member firms are rendered in the name of the member’s name only and not in the name of the Network. The Network shall not receive any compensation of any kind for facilitating referrals.
- All members of the Network shall be governed by all applicable rules of professional conduct and those rules supersede any Network rules of conduct. In particular, members should not disclose any privileged information, except as expressly or impliedly authorized by a member’s clients or as required or permitted by law or applicable provisions of codes of professional responsibility or ethical rules governing members’ conduct as lawyers.
- Members of the Network agree that to gain the full benefit of and to encourage frank and informative discussions among the members, the ideas, stories, issues, concerns and information exchanged between and among members are confidential to members and the NLLF and are not to be disclosed to non-members accept with the permission of the author(s) and/or source(s). This obligation of confidentiality also extends to materials provided by members in connection with NLLF programs or otherwise provided to the NLLF at the request of the NLLF for the benefit of members.
- If an NLLF member receives a referral from another NLLF member, it is under no obligation to relax its firm policies when accepting that referral.
Membership Application
