A bar sponsored lawyer referral service typically does not grade or base its recommendations on the perceived quality of the attorney's work, whereas a former client is able to personally comment on an attorney's performance based on the product and results generated by the lawyer.
A referral service will give you info on attorneys who claim to practice in certain areas, with contact info, but with limited or no information as to how "good" they are and / or how former clients and their peers view them.
Once a potential client has an attorney in mind, there is a website out there which he / she should check out to learn more about the attorney: Avvo.com where former clients rate their attorney.
There is also Martindale.com, which rates attorneys by their peers.
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