To “Pre” Or Not To “Pre” – Prepaid Legal Services

Prohibitively high costs for common legal services are going the way of many medical services facing the same issue. In an effort to curb or limit the costs of hiring an attorney in time of need, many attorneys and firms have been offering prepaid legal services as a way to predict and control potential liabilities for individuals and businesses.

There are some very important factors to consider when trying deciding if this is the way to go. The fees, sometimes paid monthly or yearly, can vary quite a bit as can the quality and quantity of services one can expect to receive. For this reason, many groups decide to purchase them at a discounted rate to make them available to members at a lower cost.

If this is starting to sound a lot like insurance, there are definite similarities though prepaid legal insurance does differ somewhat from prepaid legal services in a number of ways.

Generally, prepaid legal insurance seeks to protect the purchaser from all legal costs up to the limits of the policy, while prepaid legal services primarily cover attorney and staff fees. If you lose a lawsuit, for example, you may still be liable for court costs, bail if jail is involved and/or judgments rendered against you.

While it will normally cost more, those whose activities routinely involve high risk occupations or exposure, for example, might reasonably expect that they will encounter a judgment against them at some point or another.

At a time when even a minor injury or small equipment damage can prove very costly, the expense of such legal insurance might be entirely justifiable.

Both types of prepaid services can be very valuable in a proactive sense, instead of merely coming into play when defense is involved. Depending on the terms of the services, an attorney may be called for advice, asked to review legal documents and contracts, draft letters, represent the covered party in court and serve as a mediator in disputes to avoid ending up in court at all.

Many businesses, and individuals with several businesses, will frequently find it necessary to approach and respond to a variety of conditions and situations with legal implications. As such, being able to draw from a pool of attorneys with different specialties can assist them with covering many different areas under one general umbrella of service.

Obviously, individuals with a higher net worth have more to protect in the financial sense and may often need to plan years advance to accomplish business and investment goals. By establishing limits on certain fees through contractual agreements, they can better predict their asset management needs.

Increasingly, these services are being purchased by a variety of groups for members or employees. It is seen as a cost effective way to provide routine or emergency legal services to those whose encounters with the legal system will be infrequent, but necessary and possibly expensive.

Certain events such as marriages and divorces, illnesses, accidents or death often come with plenty of expenses as is and prepaid legal services can help even those of modest means prevent unplanned legal expenses from getting out of control.

 

 

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Online Legal News:

 

Business Wire - Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation On Behalf of Shareholders of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., in Connection with the Proposed Acquisition of the Company by MidOcean Partners
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One Last Bite: Final Year For Bank Tax Refund Anticipation Loans - MarketWatch (press release)

One Last Bite: Final Year For Bank Tax Refund Anticipation Loans
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Taxpayers without a bank account can get a fast refund by e-filing and having their refund deposited to a prepaid card, including any existing payroll or prepaid card that the taxpayer already has. H&R Block is even offering free refund anticipation .

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Legal News Line
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Fitch Rates Nebraska Public Power District's $234.5MM 2012 Series A Bonds 'A+'; Outlook Stable
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Business Wire - Stephen Middlebrook Esq. Joins FSV Payment Systems as General Counsel
May 16, 2011 -- FSV Payment Systems, a leading provider of network branded prepaid debit card products and processing services, announced Stephen T. Middlebrook...


AMD Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Results
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