What's the difference between a lawyer and a boxing referee? A boxing referee doesn't get paid more for a longer fight.
Okay, we get it—lawyers make easy targets for jokes. They are expensive, seeming at times to care more about billing than taking care of people. Forbes even writes, “It’s OK to hate lawyers.”
Consider this: The New York Times cites a recent global study that ranked the United States as the 65th in the world for the accessibility and affordability of its civil justice (tied with Botswana, Pakistan and Uzbekistan). The Washington Post recently reported that “in 70 to 98 percent of cases in America’s civil courts today, one or both parties are not represented by a lawyer.”
The challenge is not that we need fewer lawyers in the world, but cheaper ones. That’s no laughing matter.“To address this failure, LegalShield has disrupted the legal industry through the power of collaborative consumption,” states Jeff Bell, CEO of LegalShield. “LegalShield has united 1.5 million households in North America to collectively pay for legal services for the entire group. When any individual member calls an attorney, they are treated the way that they should be: like the most important client at the firm.”
That is a feeling that Larry Smith knows very well. A former corporate president over the U.S. division of a global firm, Smith had only used an attorney once before joining LegalShield and said he “did not like the experience.” However, since joining, Smith has used his attorney dozens of times over the past two decades. He now loves to refer prospective members to the “101 reasons to use LegalShield.”
“Right after I joined LegalShield, I took a ring to a jeweler and he ruined it. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with an attorney, she made a call to the jeweler, and the same day I picked up a check for over two thousand dollars,” Smith says.
Smith has used LegalShield to do everything from fighting a fraudulent lien placed on his house, to securing a reimbursement for clothes destroyed by a dry cleaner, to defending himself against a false collection notice, to securing a better rate on his cell phone service. In almost every instance, Smith just needed to have a brief conversation with his LegalShield provider law firm and they would send a letter on his behalf. And almost every time, that was all that was needed to resolve his legal matter.
Smith estimates that over the years, his LegalShield lawyers have helped him recover tens of thousands of dollars.“ At $250 per hour, I am not going to make the call to a lawyer. But at $20 per month, I won't hesitate to call,” says Smith.
“The reason people don't use attorneys is they think they are too expensive. It's not that they don't need it, it's that they can't afford it. ”Bell argues, by offering an affordable monthly membership, LegalShield “enables our members to access attorneys without worrying about the clock. This aligns both our provider law firms and our members around the same goal: finding a fast, efficient, and effective resolution to legal matters.”LegalShield is not only disrupting the legal field, it is rewriting the attorney joke book.
Written and maintained by the LegalShield content team, covering legal and identity protection topics for individuals, families, and small businesses.
Unilateral is a common descriptor for contracts that means “one-sided.” Rest assured that in most situations, a lawyer can worry about contract interpretations for you, but read on to find out more.
A Beneficiary Deed is a legal document where you name someone to get your real estate after you die. In many states, it’s also called a Transfer-on-Death Deed (TODD). This type of deed can help property pass to a named beneficiary without the hassle of probate.
Your daughter just went off to college and became ill. She goes to the doctor, and they want to see certain records from her childhood, such as shot records. She calls you and asks you to call the family’s long-time pediatrician to acquire the records. No problem – right? You call, and the office tells you that since your child is 18, you are no longer allowed access to her records. Your child is an adult and as a parent, you have lost your authority.
In general, the answer is no, you can’t get a divorce for free. That may be disappointing news if you’re interested in a free divorce, but the good news is, there are ways to lower costs.
Let's walk through how much it costs to change your name by situation, what you'll pay to update your documents, and how to keep your total expenses as low as possible.
Before you decide what to do about a traffic ticket, take a breath and seek some advice. Every situation is different, so ask a lawyer to explain your options.
Custody describes the rights of parents, and can become an issue during separations or other court proceedings. Guardianship can be granted by the court to non-parents and isn’t mutually exclusive with custody.
A legal separation and a divorce are two distinct statuses. Learn about the differences.
