How to choose an attorney?

Throughout the course of your legal problems, you will have to make some
tough decisions - If you were involved in an accident then you have to
choose between bringing criminal damages or press with a plaintiff case, if
you have a small business and you were involved in a deal, then you have to
decide whether to sign it or let it pass. There is no clear-cut answer in
many of these dilemmas, and getting the right lawyer is crucial to you. We
examine the perks of choosing a lawyer in a pre-paid legal plan as opposed
to hiring your own lawyer, and some simple steps you can take to choose a
good attorney.

The number one criterion has to do with a lawyer’s legal ability: someone
who lays the law down for you, present you with options, explain the
ramifications of each decision you make and give you recommendations on the
best course of action. In this day and age of complicated legal matters,
many lawyers are increasingly specialised and you stand to get better
information from someone with a practice focus in a particular area of the
law than a generalist who deals with a broad spectrum of legal issues.
Building rapport is also very important: your relationship with your lawyer
can make or break your case. You need a lawyer who gives you candid advice
and council you can trust, someone with enough perspective to step back
from an issue and look at it from all perspectives.

Client-lawyer relationships are very limited within a pre-paid legal plan.
Because of “preventive” nature of most plans, your contact with your
lawyer will be limited on many occasions. You seldom get to talk to your
lawyer face-to-face - as most of the consultation is done over the phone
- and even when you get to talk to them, it’s difficult to build rapport
when your office consultations are limited to a dozen hours a year.

The good news, however, is you still have some options left. When you sign
up for a legal plan, you get to choose your lawyer and there is a number of
steps you can take to increase the likelihood of getting a good lawyer.
First, you need to ask for referrals from previous clients. Ask around
about good attorneys in the network. Once you get a few names, check their
educational background, their qualifications and their professional track
record with your state’s bar association.
After you receive your referrals, don’t shy away from setting up interviews
with attorneys in the network. Most don’t mind receiving enquiries about
what they do and how able there are. |Ask tough questions: How long have
they been in practice? How satisfied are their previous clients? How many
legal problems of interest to you have they taken recently?

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How to enrol for a legal plan?

Are you thinking of getting on the pre-paid bandwagon? 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 work place
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.

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Types of Prepaid Legal Services

Over 100 million Americans are signed up for pre-paid legal services. Also
called legal insurance, these plans are similar to those provided by Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and cover the legal needs of the member,
spouse and any dependent children.

In a prepaid legal service plan, the customer pays a fixed monthly
subscription fee of up to $25 for the services of pre-selected lawyers.
The most basic plans provide advice and consultation by telephone. Plan
members receive a few hours of free office consultation with their assigned
attorney. They may also include review and advice on simple legal documents,
preparation, drafting or an update of a simple will. Phone calls and letters
can be written on behalf of members, a service helpful for credit problems
and consumer protection.
More comprehensive plans cover clients’ personal legal needs ranging from
services that require more time and effort on the part of your attorney,
such as contracts, wills and deeds, to legal representation in negotiations
and courts cases related to family matters, bankruptcy and real estate
issues.

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Pre-paid legal services for small business

If you are operating your own business, you cannot afford to go it alone
when it comes to legal matters. The ever increasing complexities of law,
spiralling costs of lawsuits and the proliferation of government red tape
can land you in a lot of trouble.

The flip of the coin is hardly attractive either! Hiring a lawyer can
constitute a substantial financial investment many cash-strapped small
businesses and entrepreneurs cannot sustain. Lawyers charge a minimum of
$200 per hour when it comes to “business law” and it can get very
costly if you are involved in lengthy legal procedures, complicated
contracts or business transactions.

There may just be a glitter of hope in pre-paid legal plans. For a set
monthly price, some legal providers are now bundling a whole suite of
legal services especially tailored to the needs of small-businesses.
Whether you need phone consultation on the legal complexities of a lease
contract, or require legal representation during tax audits, a pre-paid
plan can help you manage legal costs. An array of services is included as
“standard coverage” at no cost to you in the plan, and any legal matters
not covered can be provided with a discount on fees.

Before you take the leap, you need to keep some caveats in mind.

You need to know more about the quality of service you are likely to get.
While lower fees do not necessarily infer lower quality of work, it is
always necessary to bear in mind that legal specialization plays a crucial
part and lawyers are not interchangeable. Ask for references from previous
clients or ask entrepreneurs who’ve used the services of the provider about
the quality of work they have received from them. Use your state bar
association, service organizations in your locale and your local Better
Business Bureau to research law firms and the background of the attorneys
in the network before selecting them. Things to look for are the number of
years they have been operating, complaints from previous customers, the
education background of attorneys, professional track record and so forth.
With the increasing amount of small businesses involved in litigation and
fee disputes with their legal providers, I iss important to give some
thought to alternative courses of actions when dealing with disputes. Ask
your prospective provider about the way in which they settle disputes or
complaints. Do they have an in-house procedure to deal with complaints,
appoint a senior attorney to deal with such things or do you simply have to

settle out of court?

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The access legal plan

Pre-paid legal plans come in a variety of types depending on the scope of
legal coverage they provide.

The most basic pre-paid plan is designed to make the simple legal services
readily available to the general public at low cost. These plans typically
cost between $10 and $30 per month, billed in advance.
You get unrestricted toll-free number telephone access to a lawyer for
legal advice and consultation. You can also make brief office consultations
to talk to your lawyer about any legal problems you may be encountering.
Your lawyer can also write to letters or make phone calls on your behalf.
This can help resolve many problems before they escalate further.
Other services provided are not overly time-consuming: the drafting of your
will to distribute your property after your death, review of your trust and
any other simple legal document.

If you require any other service beyond the scope of a basic plan, then you
can either pay discounts on regular lawyer fees or pay a premium to upgrade
to a more comprehensive plan.

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