When you subscribe to a pre-paid legal service, you are likely to deal
with an attorney and a number of other individuals and organisations who
are involved in one way or another with the service. Its important to
understand the role of each participating party in a legal service plan,
particularly when youre unhappy with the service or when fee disputes or
any other litigation with your provider arises.
So, who is involved in your pre-paid legal arrangement?
Your Lawyer
You get to choose your attorney from a pool of attorneys in the network.
Your lawyer is your point of contact for any phone advice or office
consultation. He is the one who furnishes other legal services specified
in your written agreement with your provider: he drafts your will, reviews
simple contracts for you, writes letters on your behalf and makes phone
calls to adverse third parties.
If you are unsatisfied with the quality of work you are getting from your
current attorney in the network then you have the choice of choosing
alternate attorneys. You can also make a complaint to your providers
in-house charge of complaints.
If you benefit from legal services under a group plan scheme then there are
a number of parties who are involved in this scheme.
First the contracted firm, just as is the case with an individual plan, is
the one which provides all the legal help through its network of attorneys.
There are also two parties involved in the deal: a plan administrator and a
plan sponsor.
A plan sponsor is the organisation you are member of, which sponsors your
legal plan. Your sponsor can either choose to provide the legal services as
a fringe-benefit, as is the case with most employers, pre-charge for the
service - universities usually charge for any legal service as part of
tuition fees or charge low-costs, as do trade unions under a
group-bargaining scheme.
Your plan administrator is the person appointed by your sponsor to arrange
for the panel of lawyers from the contracted firm to provide services,
collects all the fees paid into a pre-paid plan, publicizes the plan and
handles enrolment and marketing. The administrator may be a an employee of
the sponsor, an insurance company or an outside firm.
Regulating Authority
Authorities that regulate pre-paid plans provide you with an outline of how
pre-paid legal services are managed and also an outlet in case there are
any complaints.
Individual pre-paid legal plans are generally regulated by your state
department of consumer affairs.
If you are an employee participating in a group plan funded by your
employer, then the legal services are covered and regulated under the
deferral Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
(Word count: 449)
P
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main pillars of successful corporate leadership?
Successful leadership relies on active listening, strategic vision, clear communication, and empowering team members through robust feedback loops and continuous skill mentoring.
How can a small business compete with big corporate brands online?
Small businesses can dominate by focusing on a hyper-specific local niche, optimizing local SEO, delivering outstanding hyper-personalized service, and moving extremely fast compared to slow corporate bureaucracies.
What is the value of hiring a single-agency partner for branding and marketing?
Hiring a unified agency partner like Social Stardom ensures absolute continuity across your copy, design, ads, and SEO. It prevents the friction, delays, and mixed messaging that occur when hiring multiple fragmented freelancers.
Want to apply this strategy to your business?
Understanding the strategy is step one. Implementing it flawlessly is the real challenge. Tell us about your goals and we will suggest the next move in 1 working day.