Do not shy away

After you receive your referrals, do not shy away from setting up interviews with attorneys in the network. Most do not mind receiving enquiries about what they do and how able they are. Choosing a particular enrolment method can be very important in determining the benefits, costs, and conditions of coverage of your legal plan.

A voluntary enrolment refers to a membership of a legal plan where people voluntarily subscribe to a pre-paid legal service in response to a direct email offer, during an employer’s open enrolment period, or during individual sales representations. In this arrangement, you pay the prepaid charge, get the standard discounts open to all other members of the plan and get the coverage as per the terms and conditions of the plan. In a group plan, all members are automatically included in the plan because of their status as a group.

For instance, many employees enjoy a 100% participation in legal plans sponsored by their employers. They do not have to pay any pre-paid charge or premium, as legal coverage in the workplace is now regarded as an employee fringe-benefit. Some universities also provide legal coverage for their students, financing the plans from their general tuition fees.

The attorney would draft, review, and update your will every other year, make phone calls and write letters on your behalf to negotiate your contracts, and represent you in court. If you are traveling in another state and need any form of legal advice, he will refer you to a competent attorney in that state at no extra cost to you. This all seems great on paper, but the mere thought of paying hundreds of dollars an hour to put an attorney on retainer is enough to persuade most people not to seek legal coverage.

You will be surprised to know that such coverage does indeed exist under an arrangement like your health or insurance plan. Pre-paid legal plans offer you access to all these legal services, for a monthly charge of $10 to $25. If you are employed, you may incur no charge if your employer provides legal services as a fringe benefit.

Pre-paid legal plans are promoted under the promise of cheap legal coverage, an attractive alternative to the high fees charged by regular attorneys and law practices. But under the gloss of accessible legal services for the public, lie several limitations. There is a limit on the scope of the legal services provided.

Most of what is provided on an unlimited basis is phone based: calls to your attorney for advice and consultation on legal matters, or phone calls made on your behalf to third parties. Other benefits bundled in the plan are limited: regular visits to your attorney’s office are restricted to a dozen or so hours per month, the wills you want drafted or sample contracts reviewed will be carried out on two or three copies per year. More complex legal matters involving more time and effort on the part of your attorney are not provided outright.

If you need representation in a court for a lawsuit on the recovery of damages, or a complex lease contract reviewed and approved, then you must pay regular lawyer fees. Some discounts of up to 25% apply, but you could get the same discounts if not better by the simple virtue of simple negotiations and clever comparison shopping. There is also a restriction on your choice of attorney and the quality of legal work provided.

Although you are free to choose your own attorney, client-lawyer relationship and the building of rapport are harder to come by in this scheme.