Group legal plans

A: Group legal plans exist primarily because this is an approved tax-free benefit under an employer provided employee benefit plan. The plan can be paid by the employer or the employee. But there are two important points to consider: 1) when it comes to professional service, you get what you pay for. It would be naive to think that an attorney would be giving you her full attention for several hours of important work simply because you are a member of a legal plan. 2) In over 20 years of working in this field, I have not ever spoken with a person that was fully satisfied with the services of a group legal plan. It might have saved them a few dollars for a simply legal issue but a large number of people drop out of a group legal plan once they have had a taste of the actual benefits provided. Think of it as an HMO that does not offer office visits, only telephone service. Beware that there is an army of commission-based sales representatives touting the wonderful benefits of group legal plans and few if any other consumer advocate voices promoting caution. You would be better of putting that money into a salary-deducted savings account of some type, and then paying cash for a good local attorney when and it you need it. Most local bar associations offer face to face consultations with member attorneys for minimal fee (often around $40) and this is a far better deal than most group legal plans.