A Legal Services Plan Solves Problem

If you could change it, what would the ideal legal system look like?

Maybe you'd model it after a perfect health maintenance organization (HMO).

In the PERFECT health insurance model, MANY people pay a very SMALL AMOUNT monthly to have complete medical care when they need it. Everyone would have equal access to health, not just the rich and poor.

HMO’s teach health maintenance and health prevention. The same idea can be applied to legal health.

What's a Legal Plan?
Legal plans come in a number of different shapes and sizes. A "prepaid legal plan" is an arrangement in which a consumer (Or an employer) prepays for future legal services as provided to members in the plan.

A prepaid legal plan may be compared to …a medical benefit plan: A consumer pays a fixed amount each year or month in exchange for certain service benefits to be used as and if needed.

Generally speaking here’s how the idea works:
You call a lawyer any time you want to get advice about:
• anything you think might turn into a legal problem
• the lawyer could draft a will for you
• look over a purchase contract on a home before you sign
• represent your teenager in traffic court
• negotiate out of a "life contract" for nursing care

That’s Great!
But can the middle class afford hundreds of dollars to keep a law firm on retainer, especially when they probably won’t need all these services every year?

A prepaid legal service plan may be the answer. About 18 million Americans were enrolled in some form of prepaid legal plan as of mid-1995.

With a prepaid legal services plan a range of services could be yours for $9 to $25 per month charged to your credit card, or taken out as a payroll deduction, or even "free" for a company which offers legal services as a fringe benefit.

The basic service provided under most plans is:
• general legal advice and consultation by telephone
• and may also include brief office consultations,
• review of simple legal documents,
• preparation of a simple will,
• and short letters written or phone calls made by a lawyer on your behalf.

A legal plan may also provide representation for motor vehicle legal issues from traffic tickets to manslaughter or vehicular homicide.

Other plans offer more comprehensive coverage for trial defense in a civil or criminal trial and IRS audits. Most plans include coverage for spouses and dependent children.

Why are legal Plans Needed?

Many people could use legal help but do not seek lawyer services. According to a survey conducted by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, for the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, seven in ten U.S. households (71%) report experiencing some event in a twelve month period that might have led them to hire a lawyer.

The study indicated that for the consumer, legal services are among the most difficult services to buy. When it comes to hiring a lawyer, consumers feel uncertain about how to tell a good lawyer from a bad one.

It is often unclear exactly what the lawyer will do for them and how much the lawyer will charge. So, over half of those who might need a lawyer say they do not plan on hiring one.”

A legal plan lets a member talk to a lawyer whenever the member thinks he or she might have a problem, without fear of the cost. The more you understand the value, the more you see the benefits of having a legal plan. With the proper legal advice most problems can be avoided or quickly resolved.

And if further services, such as representation in court, are needed, a legal plan may help a member find the right lawyer, pay all or part of the legal bills or actually provide a lawyer to handle the case at no cost to the member.

By putting legal advice as near as the telephone, legal plans enable their members to prevent legal questions from becoming legal problems.

Sixty-five to eighty-five percent of all problems brought to lawyers through plans can be resolved through nothing more than advice and a small amount of follow-up.

Having a lawyer readily available gives people peace of mind. Legal plans can also save members money in complex legal matters.

  Racial Profiling Examined