Sally Consumer has a legal problem. Her
mother is suffering from the early stages of dementia. Mom is a very
private person but Sally believes it’s time for her to become Mom’s
guardian. She knows this is a big step and she knows Mom will not agree
willingly.
Sally needs some legal advice. Since
she lives in Michigan, she turns to the SBM Member Directory for help.
Her search takes her to the form for finding a lawyer. Reading the
directions, she types in her city, Traverse City, and the area of
practice—elder law, guardianships.
Seeing the box labeled "show me only
lawyers who have indicated that they are accepting new clients" and
reasoning there is no point in looking at the lawyers not accepting
clients, she clicks "Yes." One name pops up—it seems only one lawyer in
Traverse City is accepting clients in her area of concern—elder law,
guardianship.
That lawyer has an expanded profile,
which gives Sally information about the lawyer's education, background,
legal practice, and her contact information. Seeing that the lawyer is
in good standing, Sally calls her for an appointment.
Had Sally clicked the “No” choice on
the "accepting new clients" option, she would have found seven other
lawyers in her city with practices in elder law who could have helped
her. However, those lawyers had not opted in to indicate that they are
accepting new clients.
There is more information available to
Sally on the SBM Member Directory. If she clicks on Zeekapedia, she can
link to Life Events to find information on marriage, protection of
ideas, real estate, retirement, or employment law issues. The link,
Articles and Blogs, takes her to several articles on legal topics such
as senior scams, arbitration, civil litigation, or lawyers.
Sally can register on the site if she
chooses. When she does she is asked to read the Terms of Use Agreement
for Consumers. Sally scans through the document learning that the site
doesn't recommend lawyers, that using the site and contacting the
lawyers establishes no attorney-client relationship, and she should not
post personal or confidential information on the site or to the lawyers
she contacts.
Registration gives her access to a
dashboard where she can create a profile complete with pictures. She can
also organize her search by adding her active attorney requests and the
completed requests. In this way all her lawyer information is in one
place. Sally can connect with other people she finds on the site by
clicking the +Friend link and she can create or join discussion groups
on legal topics of interest to her.
The SBM member directory offers
consumers, like Sally, access to all the 44,000 plus Michigan lawyers on
the site. When Sally searches for lawyers using a practice area and her
geographic location, she is presented with lawyer profiles that match
her situation. Using the information she finds, Sally can call the
lawyer for an appointment, relieved that she is now on her way to
solving this family and legal issue.
Roberta Gubbins has served as the editor of the Ingham County Legal News.
Since leaving the paper, she provides services as a ghostwriter editing
articles, blogs, and e-blasts for lawyers and law firms. She is the
editor of Briefs, the Ingham County Bar Association e-newsletter, and The Mentor, SBM Master Lawyers Section newsletter.
Using the New Enhanced Member Directory
How to Login and Edit Your Profile
Zeekbeek For Lawyers Page - learn about all the new directory features
How to Contact ZeekBeek Support