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Pre paid legal service...hot or not?

NOT!

Beware that you get what you pay for. My husband and I were able to get this service through his company. We knew that we would be needing certain legal services within the years time. We were planning on selling our home and buying another. We knew that in our area in the country lawyers fees for this would be about $1500 and that if we went with the legal service we'd only pay about $200 for the legal services. It seemed like a decent savings so we went for it.

You now have to find a lawyer from the service. A number of them were no longer with the service even though they were still listed. A number of them would only do partial real estate services (the selling of a house, not the purchase). Most of the rest were either complete losers or very nice. There really isn't much benefit to having a nice lawyer on your side. You want the other side to have a nice laywer while you have a shark on your team. 🙂 Our lawyer was too nice, and cost us money and aggravation because he was too nice and would rather be nice than fight for our benefit.

If you know that you will be needing a lot of SIMPLE law services, maybe like creating wills or name changes and nothing where you will need a lawyer to defend your side against someone else, then perhaps this service might save you some money. It won't save you on aggravation.

Do you remember how bad Medical HMO's were when they first started? No? They were pretty awful. Well this is a Law HMO. Its better than nothing, and it won't kill you in the end. That's about all the good I can say about it. :disgust:
 
you should always be represented by counsel in all legal matters, there are rights you may not know you have, the only way to find out is to consult an attorney
 
hehhe prepaid legal services... its a pretty big business now. the reps are actually part of a 'network' marketing thing. where they put up quite a bit of money into it and everyone they sign onto it, they get a certain amount, and everyone they get to join in on the network they get a certain amount. i have not known anyone who bought their service to actually have used it, but i know many that have dumped money into this. anyways, use at your own risk. you can get alot of legal advice for free, and when it comes down to it, i'd rather pay more for better service.
 
I'll agree about the HMO-style service. I've had it for a couple of years now, and it's probably a break-even prospect for me. I generally don't use a lawyers services, but they did give me great advice on a speeding ticket I got last year (I didn't give them much time) - I walked. They also helped out by sending two letters to MCI about an erroneous bill which I couldn't seem to clear up (totalling about $250 for what should have been ~$15 of service).

If I'd had a lawyer-friend, I probably could have gotten both of these services for free or a nominal cost. I don't have any friends who are lawyers, though, and it's worth the few bucks to know that I can get small services done when I need them. I'm a professional (engineer), and it's hard to justify any client work for less than about $250 unless I have an ongoing relationship and the volume is high (or the client is a personal friend).

Actually, there was a third incident where I just implied that I would have my lawyer contact a former landlord about the $600 in security deposit he kept for damage I believed was normal wear and tear. I got a $600 check and an apologetic letter in the mail a week later. I didn't need the service, but it made it much easier to write the threat, knowing I could back it up without costing me any extra money.
 
well, a lawyer can be nice & effective, so long as s/he can drop the hammer when necessary. Remember that you will get what you pay for.

If you need a lawyer for a speeding ticket or to write a nasty letter, this is probably just the service you need. However, if you really need a lawyer (like if you get sued for something for which you are not insured or if you are accused of a crime), the lawyers in this network may or may not be competent enough to get you the best result. I hope none of you gets in a situation where this kind of representation is necessary.
 
hmmm, a co-worker of mine approached me about this a little over 6 months ago and I thought it sounded kinda like piramid scam to me... I guess it could be a good deal though for those that will take advantage of the services (assuming they come through with their promised levels of service)

edit: fixed typos
 
"Pre-Paid Legal" is an MLM program, and you pay for the extra distribution through their higher rates.

A fellow small business owner and friend of mine swears by a company that does not go the MLM route, and their prices reflect that. It's Legal Services Plan, $11.99 per month.

Included:
- Free phone consults and free initial office visits
- Simple wills (new or updated)
- Legal letters and phone calls
- Document review

Plus, guaranteed maximum rates on common legal matters and vastly reduced rates ($70 per hour max.) on court appearances, etc.

I was needing legal advice a couple of times recently; I found it's extremely frustrating and dangerous to rely on yellow pages.

Link (By the way, the "free mini boombox" they're giving away is a POS, so don't let that sway you!)
 
I've gotta respond here. I'm a lawyer, and from my experience these things are a rip off. Most lawyers, including myself, almost always give a free consultation. If not, I charge something small, like $25, just to make sure you're serious and not wasting my time. If all you want from the prepaid is a simple Will, thats only like $75, and at 15/mo the monthly fees would quickly be more than that (most of these plans have 1 yr contracts). If you want a lawyer, call the local bar association, they'll give you a referral, and maybe even some free advice on how to handle a problem yourself. Look at it this way, if I'm not going to work for less money, and the prepaid marketing company's in business to make money, who do you think is getting screwed?
 
Not necessarily anyone. You're asuming zero sum where it doesn't seem to be the case. If this service could get people to actually consider using a lawyer rather than trying to tackle something themselves then it should result in extra money flowing in by way of extra customers.
 
In my limited experience, the Nashville Bar Association was useless. They sent me to several lawyers that weren't even involved in the kind of law I was inquiring about. Others didn't return calls or were disinterested. All they did for me was cause frustration and waste time. At least, for $12 a month I have a point person to go to if something crops up.
 
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