Affordable Legal Services - An Introduction to Legal Plans

Provide easy access to a lawyer, especially for preventative services, with no worry about high initial consultation fees.

Oklahoma City, OK, July 23, 2006 --(PR.com)-- What if you had a lawyer you could call any time to get advice about any legal problem and you didn't have to worry about the cost. The lawyer could draft a will for you, look over a purchase contract on a home, represent your teenager in traffic court, negotiate a "life contract" for nursing home care, represent you if you: are being sued, are being accused of a crime, have been asked to make a statement to the police, have been in a serious accident, are considering a lawsuit or bankruptcy, if someone in your family has died, are considering adopting a child, are starting a business and even get you a divorce!

A legal plan may be the answer for you as it is for millions of people in the United States and Canada who have access to legal services through some sort of legal plan. With many "prepaid legal plans," these services could be yours for $15 to $26 per month charged to your credit or debit card, drafted from your bank account or taken as a payroll deduction, or even "free" if your employer provides legal services as an employer-paid fringe benefit. Your worries about getting affordable legal help when you need it are eliminated.

What is a Legal Plan? - Legal plans come in many shapes and sizes. A "prepaid legal plan" is any type of arrangement in which a participant prepays or an employer pays on behalf of employees for legal services participants may require in the future. In many respects, a prepaid legal plan is similar 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.

A "group legal plan" may have a prepaid feature, such as those offered by employers as an enrollment choice and paid via a payroll deduction, but may also be similar to a group discount buying service for lawyer services. Group legal plan benefits - usually available without charge to members of an association, union, coop, or other group - feature free telephone legal advice plus fee discounts from a participating lawyer for other services.

Almost every legal plan provides legal advice and consultation by telephone as a basic service 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. Other plans offer more comprehensive coverage for trials, marital problems, bankruptcy, real estate matters and the like. In addition to the member, most plans include or offer coverage for his or her spouse and dependent children.

Why are legal Plans Needed? - 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. 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.

In addition, having a lawyer readily available gives people peace of mind. legal plans can also save members money in complex legal matters. Even where a plan doesn't pay a lawyer's entire bill, the member usually benefits from discount rates that plans can negotiate with panel lawyers. Finally, sponsoring a legal plan can benefit employers since employees with legal problems are more reliable and productive when legal help is available and a plan may help the employer attract and keep quality employees.

In summary, legal plans:
(1) Provide easy access to a lawyer, especially for preventive services, with no worry about high initial consultation fees;
(2) Make payment of lawyer's fees easier, if not painless, depending on the plan benefits;
(3) Make the cost more certain because of published fee schedules;
(4) Provide customer service so that plan members can have their questions answered about the plan, its coverage, or their relationship with plan lawyers.
For more info about legal plans, call (580) 355-3355, E-mail: mabuhayp@sbcglobal.net, or visit: http://tinyurl.com/jtytn

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Lawton Legal Service Plans
Tolbert E Wyatt
(580) 355-3355
tinyurl.com/jtytn
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