LegalShield Review

Purpose

The purpose of this review is to provide background information on LegalShield, details on the legal service provided by LegalShield. Pros and cons. How much does it cost. And what is the quality of service like. And my overall rating from 1 to 10.

Background Information

The Founder

LegalShield was founded by Harland Stonecipher in 1972 after he was involved in an auto accident and experienced negative legal consequences. That left him and his family at a financial disadvantage. His innovation was to provide legal services that was subscription based rather than paying an hourly rate to a lawyer. LegalShield later added Identity Theft protection to its members.

The Current CEO

Jeff Bell, the CEO of LegalShield held several VP positions at Chrysler where he launched the Chrysler 300. He also held several VP positions in Microsoft where one of his responsibilities was their gaming division where he transformed the Xbox division to profitability. Under Jeff Bell, LegalShield has grown significantly and now has over 1,400,000 members. LegalShield operates in the US and four Provinces in Canada.

Management Change – to handle growth

Mr. Stonecipher served as the CEO until 2011 when the company was purchased by MidOcean Partners. The current CEO is Jeff Bell, who held senior VP positions in Chrysler and Microsoft. LegalShield currently has over 1.4 Million members across 49 States and 4 Canadian Provinces where it provides its services.

Your Law Firm – Works for You

LegalShield has contracted with top law firms in major cities where it operates. When you join LegalShield, you are assigned to a Law Firm near you.

Membership Card

Your welcome package includes your membership card. Imprinted on this card are your membership number, the name and phone number of your law firm, the phone number of LegalShield HQ in Ada, Oklahoma. LegalShield has an App for iPhone and Android so that you can connect with your lawyer with the push of an L con on your screen.

How the plan works – it’s really simple

Once you become a member, call your Law Firm to discuss any issue that may require a legal perspective.

For example, you were taken advantage of by an airline. Or you need to sign a contract and want to know if you missed anything that could create a problem down the line.

Conveying Details To Your Law Firm

They will ask you for your membership number located on your membership card and your Email address and home address for verification. The agent will ask you for a summary of the issue involved and any pertinent information related to it.

Typical Response Time

Within four hours an attorney who is best equipped to help will call you. You can talk to the attorney as long as it is necessary for them to get all the information so that they can best advise you. If there are documents involved you will be asked to send it in either by fax or email using a scanned copy. Within three business days they will call you back with a response. If you have an emergency, you can call 24/7. Otherwise, normal business hours apply.

Managing Missed Calls

There is no limit to the number of issues you can call on. If the attorney calls you and you cannot take the call for any reason they will leave you a message saying they called. You can always call the Law Firm and set up a time slot when the attorney is available to connect.

Pros

You get an attorney expert in the field you need. The response is always within four hours of calling your Law Firm. In my case I got call backs within two hours.

The range of issues covered will take care of almost anything important to you. These are all clearly stated on the website.

There is no hourly charge involved. Your membership fee covers unlimited consultations.

You have a minimum number of hours a year the attorney can represent you in court. If you do not use up these hours they get carried over to the next year.

If you are audited by the IRS an attorney can accompany you to the audit.

The mobile app makes it easy to contact your Law Firm.

If you get a traffic ticket you can send a picture of it to your Law Firm using your app.

LegalShield plans range from individual to family as well as small business.

There is also a plan to give you Identity Theft protection, that includes social media.

The cost is very affordable and is excellent value taking into account the coverage.

LegalShield has been in this business for over 40 years, is well managed and has a very good rating by the Better Business Bureau.

Cons

There are a few situations that are not covered by the plan. These will be clearly stated. In those cases you can get legal representation at a 25% discount. Alternately, if you do not want to pay for this service you can get advice on what documents you will need to file in court and how to handle the situation yourself at no additional charge.

Most of the communication is done over the phone instead of a visit to the attorney.

It is possible that you do not provide all the information clearly that could lead to being hooked up with the wrong attorney. When the right communication is given this will be rectified. But it could delay the process. It is critical that all the right information is given from the start.

There is no free trial period. However, you can join at the individual level at $17.95 a month. If you like the service you can upgrade your plan. Or if you do not like it you can cancel.

Summary

The Pros far outweigh the Cons. Plans start at $17.95 a month. Monthly subscriptions that provide legal coverage and identity theft protection for a family plan is under $50. I think this is a small price to pay for having a huge load taken off your mind. Remember, you can call your Law Firm for any problem. The attorney will inform you of your legal rights coupled with advice on the best way to resolve your problem.

My overall score for LegalShield is 9 out of 10. I didn’t give it a 10 because of the few cons that I discussed. 

I have been a member of LegalShield for over 10 years and the company has helped me make informed decisions on many issues as well as fight for me to make sure I was not taken advantaged of.

You can learn more by clicking this video link.

If you wish to sign up to be legally protected, you can do so by clicking this LegalShield link or the Logo below: