Star-Telegram: Zimmerman verdict sparks intererst in CHL ins

[ComeAndTakeIt]

Apparently, [Pre-paid legal service] and the USCCA insurance plans are doing a lot more business, thanks to the Zimmerman/Martin shooting.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/11 ... erest.html

It's good to see a report of someone actually using their [Pre-paid legal service] benefit. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but maybe it's worth a second look.

[n5wd]

Apparently, [Pre-paid legal service] and the USCCA insurance plans are doing a lot more business, thanks to the Zimmerman/Martin shooting.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/11 ... erest.html

It's good to see a report of someone actually using their [Pre-paid legal service] benefit. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but maybe it's worth a second look.

Coincidentally, [pre-paid legal] published a booklet that arrived this last weekend: When Can I Legally Shoot? Knowing the Law of Deadly Force in Texas. The cover letter included in the mailing lists several other incidents in which [pre-paid legal] customers were provided legal representation after a weapons incident: a [pre-paid legal] member using deadly force to defend his property at night, a member arrested for carrying on his own property after an LEO misrepresented the facts. a member defending his child with the threat of deadly force after a road rage incident, and another road rage incdent when a member, injured in a deliberate road rage incident, again threatened deadly force and was subsequently charged by the PD - charges dismissed by the DA on the day of the trial.

[MotherBear]

We decided to go with [Pre-paid legal service] when we first got our CHLs, after doing a little thinking and research. For one thing, I figure we might have non-emergency legal questions and want access to a good lawyer familiar with Texas firearms law. I'm not sure what you'd pay for that on a question-by-question basis, but surely it's not cheap. And if nothing else, I figure our fees will be helping defend other CHLs who have acted in accordance with the law and find themselves needing legal help. Hopefully we'll never be involved in a shooting or other incident that would require the services of a lawyer, but there's some peace of mind in knowing that right behind my CHL I have a card with a number to put me in immediate touch with a good lawyer 24/7.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Mr. Zimmerman's defense included investigators and expert witnesses, neither of which are included in prepaid legal plans. Be sure you know what you are getting and, more importantly, what you are not getting. You need to read the contract carefully to see if the law firm can withdraw and under what conditions, if any.

Also, self-defense insurance offered through the NRA program is a reimbursement plan for criminal matters (not for civil suits) because state law prohibits insuring your own criminal acts. Anyone purchasing a prepaid legal plan should also seriously consider the NRA self-defense coverage so they can be reimbursed for the many things that are not provided under prepaid legal programs.

Chas.

[b322da]

Mr. Zimmerman's defense included investigators and expert witnesses, neither of which are included in prepaid legal plans. Be sure you know what you are getting and, more importantly, what you are not getting. You need to read the contract carefully to see if the law firm can withdraw and under what conditions, if any.

Also, self-defense insurance offered through the NRA program is a reimbursement plan for criminal matters (not for civil suits) because state law prohibits insuring your own criminal acts. Anyone purchasing a prepaid legal plan should also seriously consider the NRA self-defense coverage so they can be reimbursed for the many things that are not provided under prepaid legal programs.

Chas.

As if I had both the arrogance and courage to not agree with Chas.

I might even go a little further and suggest that the typical person, even the typical lawyer, cannot be expected to be able to review the fine print of a contract/insurance policy, whatever it might be, and quickly assess the issues raised by Chas. An accountant might call this the need to exercise "due diligence" before entrusting one's assets, and possibly one's life, to a piece of paper. One may have to retain a competent expert, possibly, but not necessarily, a lawyer, to assist him with this analysis.

Where Chas. and I may differ, only may, is that I personally would insist that any such expert analysis was to be in writing. Be warned -- if one requires this one must expect the cost of that analysis to possibly go up.

Should there be any problem with the ethics of my suggestion here, I will say that I am retired, no longer practice law in any respect, and refrain from offering legal advice to anyone. This is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer, nor or you my client. Consult your own attorney for legal advice. Take care to not govern your actions by my personal opinions or anything else I might say.

Jim