The California Association of Realtors (CAR) recently announced creation of its Defense Attorney Referral Panel. The panel was created as a result of recommendations of CAR's Errors and Omissions Task Force. It is an important new component of CAR's program of legal services for members.

CAR members are probably most familiar with the Legal Hotline part of the association's Member Legal Services program. The Legal Hotline program was established in 1979. Through it, members are able to receive legal advice and consultation on brokerage practice and transactional matters by phone (or fax or email, if preferred) from CAR staff attorneys. Calls are received Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. There is no charge to the Realtor or his office for this service; it is a member benefit. Since its establishment, Legal Hotline attorneys have fielded more than 600,000 questions.

The other established part of CAR's Member Legal Services program is that which receives request for assistance with cases that are on appeal. Administered by CAR's Legal Action Fund Trustees, this program provides financial assistance and/or legal expertise in appellate-level cases which are deemed to have potential for significant state-wide impact on matters relating to brokerage practice, land use, and property rights.

The Legal Hotline deals with what might be called pre-litigation issues. The Legal Action Fund deals with, so-to-speak, post-litigation or after-trial issues. Heretofore, CAR did not have a program for helping its members in the litigation stage. The newly-established Defense Attorney Referral Panel will fill that gap.

The Panel is initially comprised of sixteen broker defense attorneys from throughout the state. It is anticipated that the panel will grow to 35 to 40 members, especially as attorneys come on board from some of the currently under-represented parts of the state (central valley, far north, central coast). The attorneys selected for inclusion on the Panel will be the recommended counsel to CAR's 180,000+ members, as well as to the insurance carriers that associate with CAR. Their services will not be free to CAR members, but discounted fees will apply.

The creation of the Defense Attorney Referral Panel is not simply for the purpose of providing a list of recommended attorneys. Panel members will also be expected to act collaboratively in order to raise the level and effectiveness of broker defense practice throughout the state. In announcing the creation of the Panel, CAR President Jim Hamilton noted that "The attorney panel also will be utilized as a collective think tank that will generate innovative solutions to issues facing Realtors in the litigation arena."

Panel members will contribute to CAR's Litigation Defense and Claims Repository which will be "a library of collected defense materials including, but not limited to, pleadings, motions and strategy briefs. The Panel attorneys will contribute their case files to the Repository [which] will be held in a secure site and accessed only the Panel for their use in pending cases and by CAR for their use in assisting the needs of the membership."

Panel members will also participate in Strategy Meetings that will be held 3-4 times a year and "will serve as a venue for the Panel and CAR to brainstorm defense strategies and to identify new area of potential real estate litigation."

Additionally, Panel members will participate in a Risk Management Seminar Series designed for brokers and agents, and aimed at teaching them practices that will help to avoid the kinds of mistakes that lead to litigation.

The first of the Risk Management Seminars was held in San Diego during CAR's annual convention and director's meetings. Not only was the seminar room packed to overflowing, but the crowd stayed for more than an hour past the scheduled ending time. Clearly, it addressed an educational need. If the need is met, that will be good news not only for brokers and agents, but also for their clients.

Published: November 1, 2005

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Bob Hunt is a former director of the National Association of Realtors and is author of the recently published book, "Real Estate the Ethical Way." A graduate of Princeton with a master's degree from UCLA in philosophy, Hunt has served as a U.S. Marine, Realtor association president in South Orange County, and director of the California Association of Realtors, and is an award-winning Realtor. Contact Bob at .