thatguyoverthere wrote:
I've been browsing some of the pre-paid legal outfits ([Pre-paid legal service], Armed Citizens Defense Network, CCW Safe). I see all of those working pretty much like an insurance policy - I just send them a little money either monthly or yearly, and everybody's happy. If I ever do need them, I call them, then they start to work. Yes, as has been mentioned, lots of unknowns there. Do they really have the finances to pay for quality attorneys, expert witnesses, etc.? WILL they pay? How do I know what attorney I will draw if that time comes? How much experience do they have? All those and more are valid questions that I would need to research. Assuming I get all the answers I want there, the biggest advantage I see with the pre-paid legal is that (theoretically at least) I get competent, specialized legal representation, at a fixed price that I've already paid in premiums.
On the other hand, I can go out and shop for a local lawyer or law firm, where I will be dealing with an attorney that I can develop an ongoing relationship with. I can learn much more about him individually, learn more about his law practice, and surely get much more personalized service. If I have developed a sort of personal relationship with him, I think just naturally he is going to be a little bit more interested in making sure he puts forth a good effort on my behalf. And from the business end, I could probably pay him a small retainer fee on some basis and keep that door open pretty much indefinitely. However, again, if that day ever came, the guy is probably not going to work for free. If I get into a case that is complex or difficult for some reason, my defense could potentially run into tens of thousands of dollars. Having to pay out that kind of money would certainly change the situation around my little homestead.
I dug in on this a bit more yesterday, but didn't post. To answer some of your questions, based on what I read in the fine print with [pre-paid legal]:
1) They state that they'll provide expert witnesses, if they deem it necessary, from a pool of expert witnesses that agree to their payment terms. No indication of what those payment terms are. It'd be interesting to ask.. If they're decent terms, why wouldn't they disclose?
2) Any other expert witness, you're on the hook for. Last trial I was on the jury for, the disposition payout was over $1k/hr for one expert witness.
3) Court costs not included. Other representation costs - travel time, expenses, etc - not included.
Basically you're paying for insurance on per-hour legal fees (at least based on what I currently understand). Back when they were being sold to our CHL class, they wouldn't give info on what pool of attorneys they had - nor indications of which one would represent you. I dunno what you think - any maybe a an attorney can speak up about how this works - but I don't see how any attorney could afford to spent a significant amount of time on your case - maybe [pre-paid legal] pays them a fee if they represent - I dunno... Those details are important to me...
And I hear you on the fact that you can't afford to lose the homestead. I'll point out something that I caught my attention - maybe on this forum: If I'm charged in a criminal case, my focus is going to be on getting the best legal representation that I can afford rather than saving that homestead. That is, if a lawyer really isn't in a position to work 100% for me, if I'm convicted, my homestead goes belly-up anyway. The $50k that I might have saved on legal fees doesn't help my family at all if I'm not in a position to be employed.
I'd feel a lot more comfortable with [pre-paid legal] if I knew who the attorneys were, what clients they've represented, what the outcomes were, and what the real costs were to the [pre-paid legal] "member". Until I know that, it's not insurance.. It's a gamble on insurance.. And it's being pressed as a pretty hard-sell in a class that really should be about legal issues, safety issues, and self defense...
