Free labor lawyer help

STATEWIDE - A recently-enacted federal law makes it possible for attorneys to consult free with people who have problems involving labor laws.

According to Penny Hilton, executive director of the Maine Lawyer Referral and Information Service (MLRIS), the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has received so many queries that the staff can't keep up. In response, the federal government has turned to a different source of expertise, lawyers with active practices in that legal specialty.

As Hilton explained, the DOL will still be the first place a person with a concern calls. However, in the past,  a federal employee would take down the pertinent information and tell the claimant if there might be a case. Now, after a preliminary screening, the claimant will be referred, by the MLRIS to a local attorney. The lawyer the complainant is sent to will conduct an at least one-half-hour discussion and preliminary evaluation of the case's merits and demerits, ending with a comment on the advisability of pursuing the matter, with him or another lawyer.

There is a $25 registration fee for the use of the MLRIS, but it is far less than the attorney's customary fees, and can cover referrals for up to three lawyers, should that become necessary, or at the complainant's preference. Hilton stressed that a person bringing a concern need not retain the attorney they are referred to, or any lawyer at all, if they do not wish to do so.

If the lawyer realizes there may be a conflict of interest, for instance because he represents the employer in another matter, BAR regulations require him to immediately notify the complainant, and refer back to the MLRIS, although Hilton says the referral service staff will be keeping up-to-date on cases handled by participating attorneys.

Hilton said that, so far, no lawyers headquartered in Oxford County have applied to be certified to perform the referral services. Most maintain offices in Portland or Augusta, although all do handle cases in Oxford County courts.

Hilton suggests that the website www.abanet.org/legal services/Iris/attorneyappovproginfo.html can be a useful tool, as can the DOL's own website, www.dol.gov/whd/index.htm or www.mainebar.org