The office was unprofessional and negligent. I spent 20 minutes giving information about my case, was told I would receive a call back that day or latest the next, and almost a week later have not been contacted. When I called in and spoke to Carol, who claims to be the executive director, she took no responsibility for the employee's failure to follow up, deflected accountability, denied the facts, was unwilling to do anything to remedy the situation, and when I showed reasonable upset about this, she hung up on me. I had an even worse experience with the Ventura Lawyer Referral Office. There is no one I can find who oversees these county offices, and so naturally, they run amok with disregard and negligence towards people like myself calling in need of help. read more

I was put in an atrocious situation last summer that only became worse, and that is when I decided to Google 'Santa Barbara area lawyers' and saw the number for the Lawyer Referral Service. Before I knew it, I was explaining my legal situation in detail with a professional, and shortly thereafter, was referred to an attorney with decades of experience. Without intending to sound overly fatalistic, I had only moved to Santa Barbara a few months prior, and my experience there was nothing but a string of misfortunes and disasters (a car accident on my birthday caused by a rock in the road, costing hundreds in damages, parking tickets, and a protest to City Hall to trim a tree blocking a street sweeping sign, in which I lost the dispute, not unexpectedly). The Santa Barbara Lawyer Referral Service was in a way, my silver lining or 'oasis' in a period of the darkest misfortunes I had ever faced in my life (no exaggeration). Right when I thought my bad luck was over, I found myself in a life-altering legal situation, and thanks to Lida and her understanding, I got myself on the bandwagon to fighting back against injustice. Just as many never expect to get struck by lightning, I never imagined I would need legal representation, and to make matters worse, I do not have the slightest bit of a law background. Despite these setbacks, I made an oath to myself to fight back against the injustice that was put upon me and to seize the (what could be) once in a lifetime opportunity to assert my legal rights. Irrespective of any outcomes, my life-changing fight for justice would have never been possible if it were not for the kindhearted, caring due diligence of the Lawyer Referral Service. For those not experienced with the legal world, myself included, finding or conceiving of the appropriate legal services can be outstandingly intimidating. Thanks to Lida and the Lawyer Referral Service, I was able to jump right into the metaphorical boxing ring of fighting for justice, fully equipped with the resources and expertise I needed. At a time in my life where everything was seeming to go south, I will forever be thankful for the Lawyer Referral Service. Although I was faced with lots of external negative experiences in Santa Barbara, there actually was a glimmer of hope that the service thankfully provided in my life. read more

The bar association is to protect the interest of it's members, not the interest of the general public. They're not only unfair, there's no justice; I had to pay to have my case heard on top of my lost when they favored their member attorneys. There's corruption and attorneys do that they want to do, like walking away with people's hard earned money. I will never trust or pay the SB Bar Association again since they're on the side of it's own attorneys members! read more

I'm a member of the public and I used the bar association for the Lawyer Referral service. The person who answered the phone listened to me, talked to me about the problem I was having and found me help right away. The lawyer was better than I expected. I would use this service again. read more

I had been going through a nightmare of a divorce for 3 years. My divorce should have been simple. I asked for absolutely nothing but child support and alimony. I didn't want the house, the business or the property. After almost three years of battling over what should have been a simple case, I went through two lawyers who did nothing but run up a bill and I eventually found myself with no attorney that I could trust and I was still NOT divorced. I am a smart person but I didn't know all of the rules and laws of the court as far as how things needed to be filed and how to make sure I got what I was entitled to. My last lawyer was an unethical snake and I needed to find someone I could trust who would help me get my divorce finalized. I turned to the Santa Barbara County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service and I spoke with Lida. She listened, she gave me several options, and she referred me to an amazing attorney who went above and beyond. This attorney even called me to discuss paperwork in the middle of her family crisis out of town because I had a court deadline. The attorney that she recommended helped me finish my case in 5 weeks. Lida was a Godsend. She was attentive and helpful and really directed me to a lawyer who helped. If you are looking for a lawyer, I would definitely call the SB lawyer referral service. read more