Legal representation unaffordable

[Atash Hagmahani]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/ground_zeros_OUrlQ6Ap5qJQx3TnQxQBgJ#ixzz1Th7AVM1E

I perceive a dilemma:

No lawyer, no settlement. My wife and I had a situation where we sent a legal document ourselves (perfectly legal)--and it was simply ignored--until we had a lawyer send the same notice.

But legal fees are hard to control, especially when legal fees are generally not agreed-to up-front.

Sometimes they're not agreed to at all. One horror story I heard about while studying financial planning was of a man whose mother died, and left her house to him. It was a modest house but within the housing-bubble zone of New England; it was worth around $400K or so.

The estate went into probate because she had not done anything to try to avoid that.

He received a check for something like $13, several years later. The lawyer assigned to the case by the judge kept billing until the entire estate was used up.

Something similar happened when Elvis Presley died. Not knowing any better, he left a highly detailed will, but as a result, his estate went through probate, and the probate court charged his estate 75% of the value of his estate.

[Dame]

Sounds normal.

[opsec]

Like my signature line says...

[Dame]

If a legal notice is sent and it is ignored then two more need to be sent at whatever interval is mandated by the jurisdiction from which the letter has been sent.  If there is still no response then a Court Action is filled and if there is no response to the Court within the required (look it up in Rules of Court at the library) length of time you have won by default.  Once a judgment has been issued on default, you apply to the sherrif for collection/enforcement of the judgement.

This will cost a few hundred dollars, which if you are using legal counsel (please no actual legal representation unless you are legally incompetent) would be the same charge plus the charge for the legal office to have prepared and filed the paper for you.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Dame, what do you think of pre-paid legal plans as a way for average joe's and jane's and small businesses to afford some standard legal services?

I think what you get are consultation services and access to some boilerplates for common legal issues. Having legal council in court presumably costs a lot extra. Perhaps the services that come with the subscription fee are better than nothing.

I looked one up and its advertising stated rather bluntly just what we were talking about: average people can not afford legal services.

[Dame]

I would never purchase a pre-paid legal plan.  I have looked at a number of them.  I have had a legal retainer with a lawyer of my choosing for almost all of my adult life.

There are law society rules regarding the lawyers use of retainers.  They must be held in trust and if they are not available for audit and/or use as delineated by the client then the law society will investigate and generally disbar the lawyer and possibly their firm.

With pre-paid plans, at least the ones I have seen they are considered a purchase when purchased and it then becomes a pre-paid expense for the purchaser and income for the lawyer.  The unfortunate part is that there is then a collection of services issue for the client who is now a customer.

One particularly astute lawyer in my past generally reminded me "Show up - it is your life."  Good advice. 

The lawyer will walk away with cash, you will walk away with the outcome.  And the time to be most vigilant and ask the most legal questions (and therefore be prepared to pay for legal counsel) is before you make the deal not after. 

My father insisted I get something of a legal education at a very young age by taking me to legal appointments with him.  Discussing fees, retainers, instructing a lawyer, the difference between counsel and representation, and probably most important 'how to choose legal council'. 

I would get instructed prior to the appointment and then debriefed following the meeting.  By the time I was out of elementary school I was able to act as his legal agent for day to day business.  There was never any hesitation around taking me out of school for these kinds of learning experiences or latter for actually applying what I had learned.

Did much the same with my own kids although their willingness to pay attention was moderated by what they were being taught in school.  They can however dredge up the appropriate questions when necessary. 

[Atash Hagmahani]

The unfortunate part is that there is then a collection of services issue for the client who is now a customer.

Good point.