Since being launched, HALT's Legal Consumers Bill of Rights is garnering the support of key advocacy organizations, including the Consumer Federation of America and the Fund for Constitutional Government, as well as the endorsement of thousands of HALT members nationwide, and state-based organizations including the Illinois Civil Justice League.

With this growing number of endorsements, HALT is mounting a national campaign to require that the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights be posted in attorneys' offices and distributed to clients when they hire a lawyer.

In August, HALT presented the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights to the Civil Justice Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the nation's largest organization of state lawmakers. Because lawyers are regulated at the state level, building broad-based support in state legislatures is a key part of HALT's reform strategy in its fight to level the playing field for consumers when they hire a lawyer. The Civil Justice Committee plans to take up the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights at its fall meeting.

Another key part of HALT's strategy is to aggressively publicize the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights to help inform Americans about their rights, an effort already well underway with a feature article in the September ABA Journal, and appearances on WNEW in New York City and Public Broad-casting's The Law Show scheduled to air this fall.

The third part of HALT's strategy is to explain the need for the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights by highlighting typical consumer complaints about dealings with their lawyers. HALT uses real examples drawn from its toll-free hot-line to underscore the need for providing basic consumer information to people when they hire a lawyer. Some recent examples:

My lawyer won't return my phone calls, answer my letters or even keep his appointments with me. I don't know what is going on with my case.

I hired a lawyer and paid her a $2,000 advance. Now she doesn't want to take my case and says the advance is non-refundable.

I filed for divorce six years ago and I'm still married. My lawyer isn't accomplishing anything except running up my bill.

Last year I filed a complaint against my lawyer with the state attorney grievance committee. What a joke. They never even talked to me. Today I got a letter that says my complaint "does not warrant further investigation."

Finally, HALT links these consumer complaints to concrete protections in the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights and stresses that "you can't protect your rights if you don't know what they are." At a minimum, consumers can expect basic, sound practices, including:

An honest appraisal of the likelihood of success. A written fee agreement and itemized billings. Prompt disclosure of alternative ways to resolve a matter. An explanation that the client makes all the key decisions, including settlement terms. Use of economical support services. Copies of all court documents and letters. An explanation that a client who is not satisfied with a lawyer's work can file a disciplinary complaint.

Every HALT member can help in this reform campaign. Let your elected representatives know about the Legal Consumers Bill of Rights and our efforts to enact legislation that requires all lawyers to provide this basic information to their clients. And let HALT know about interested lawmakers, journalists and media.