Declination of a Legal Matter
The National Legal Office
The National Legal Office may decline to accept any matter for a covered individual if the National Legal Office determines that the matter:
- is lacking in sufficient merit to warrant pursuit
- has been previously handled by retained legal counsel or matters where the individual represented himself or herself, or has been referred to a Participating Referral Attorney
- had been raised to a Staff Attorney an inordinate or unreasonable number of times without substantial change of circumstances
is in conflict with any third-party interest or client interest
The Participating Referral Attorney
Participating Referral Attorney may decline to accept any matter for a covered individual that the Participating Attorney determines:
- is out of the area of his or her usual and customary practice
- is in the covered individual’s best interest to retain other legal counsel
- is in conflict with any third-party interest or other client interest
- is lacking sufficient merit to warrant pursuit
- has been raised to the Participating Referral Attorney an inordinate or unreasonable number of times without substantial change of circumstances
- is a preexisting matter that has been handled by an attorney or where the individual has represented himself or herself
