A person seeking legal help may be referred by a lawyer, law office, bar service, community organization, health professional, acquaintance, or another source. The referral can range from giving a name and phone number to transmitting a detailed file. Recording what was authorized, sent, received, corrected, or retained helps prevent a referral from being mistaken for an accepted representation.

A referral information-sharing record should identify the person, referring office, receiving office, matter, purpose, consent or other stated authority, exact information or file transmitted, delivery method, sent time, receipt, correction, withdrawal, retention status, and unresolved responsibility without assuming that a referral created representation.

Define the referral before information moves

  • Person seeking help, contact information, matter type, opposing or involved parties, event date, jurisdiction, and urgent date stated by the person
  • Referring person or office, receiving lawyer or office, contact source, purpose of the referral, and whether the referral is general or directed
  • Introductory contact only, conflict-check information, consultation request, file-review request, co-counsel inquiry, substitution, or another stated relationship
  • Information the person agreed could be shared, with whom, for what purpose, by which method, and for how long that direction remains current

Treat a prospective consultation as a protected stage

North Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18 defines a prospective client and addresses a lawyer’s duties concerning information learned during consultation, even when no client-lawyer relationship results. The rule also addresses conflicts arising from information that could be significantly harmful and contains stated conditions and exceptions. A referral workflow should limit premature disclosure and allow the receiving lawyer to perform an appropriate conflict review.

  • Use a short matter description and party list for the first conflict-check step when that is sufficient
  • Do not send medical, financial, employment, family, strategy, settlement, or other detailed material merely because a name was suggested
  • Record who requested additional information, why, what was authorized, and whether the consultation occurred
  • Keep the referring office’s knowledge separate from what the receiving office actually learned

Apply the correct confidentiality rule to the relationship

Rule 1.6 addresses information acquired during an existing professional relationship and permits disclosure only under the rule’s stated grounds, including informed consent, implied authorization to carry out the representation, or a listed exception. Rule 1.18 separately addresses prospective-client information. The applicable duty depends on the actual relationship and facts, not the label placed on the referral.

  • Consent or authorization text, date, person giving it, scope, recipient, purpose, method, expiration, revocation, and any condition
  • Document name, date range, page count, file type, version, sensitive field, redaction, and secure-delivery method
  • Information discussed orally identified by participant, date, subject, source, and contemporaneous note
  • Accidental recipient, failed delivery, unauthorized access, or unintended attachment preserved and sent for prompt qualified review

Verify the receiving lawyer independently

The North Carolina State Bar membership directory can be used to verify a lawyer’s public license information. Confirm the lawyer and firm through an independent contact source before sending private records, especially when the request arrives through a forwarded email, text message, unfamiliar portal, or changed payment or delivery instruction.

Create a transmission and receipt ledger

  • Package or message identifier, exact contents, sender, recipient, delivery channel, encryption or access control when used, sent time, and delivery status
  • Receipt confirmation, download or access event, unreadable or missing file, rejected file, requested supplement, and corrected transmission
  • Original retained, returned, destroyed, transferred, or still held, with the office and stated retention basis recorded
  • Later withdrawal or correction linked to the original transmission without silently deleting the earlier history

Confirm representation and responsibility separately

  • Consultation scheduled, completed, canceled, or not offered
  • Matter under review, accepted, declined, referred again, or status unknown
  • Scope and effective date of any representation documented by the applicable agreement and communication
  • Person responsible for evidence, deadlines, filings, insurer contact, records, property, and immediate decisions until a new relationship is confirmed

The related guide to tracking referrals after an injury firm declines a matter focuses on the decline, next contact, deadline responsibility, and confirmation of any later acceptance. This page addresses the separate information-sharing record during the referral itself.

Close the referral record without overstating the result

  • Record the final status communicated by each office and the date and recipient of that communication
  • List records returned, retained, transferred, or scheduled for secure disposition
  • Preserve unresolved consent, conflict, confidentiality, receipt, correction, or responsibility questions for qualified review
  • Do not describe a referral fee, shared responsibility, or joint representation unless the actual arrangement and governing requirements support it

A North Carolina personal-injury matter being referred between law offices may require careful control of prospective-client or client information and clear confirmation of who is responsible for the matter. This article provides a referral recordkeeping framework, not legal advice or a statement that any lawyer has accepted a case.