Legal Advice Made Affordable By LegalShield Membership
Legal advice is often needed but rarely sought. The most common reason people forego seeking legal counsel is the high cost associated with one-on-one visits with an attorney, which often soar in excess of $200 per hour. Constance Fabian-Isaacs, an agent with LegalShield, aims to change all that and hopes to help make legal advice accessible for the masses.
Started in Ada, Okla., LegalShield has offered legal expense plans to individuals and businesses nationwide for a low monthly fee for some 40 years. Today, LegalShield boasts some 1.4 million members in 49 states; as of yet there’s no office in Alaska. Membership rates are as low as $17 per month for individual plans, allowing those with even modest financial means access to a full range of legal services. The list of legal services offered is vast, ranging from simple legal advice, legal document review and the drafting of standard wills to help with traffic accidents or tickets – even trail defense. Perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of the service is that legal advice is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Fabian-Isaacs herself has been selling LegalShield memberships for some nine years now. Her interest in the service piqued after an incident occurred late one Sunday evening in which the police came to her door asking to speak with her teenage son. Not knowing her rights or where to turn for advice at such a late hour, she let them in and watched as her son was led away in handcuffs.
As it turns out, her son was released and cleared entirely of any wrongdoing, but the stress surrounding the event left Fabian-Isaacs wanting to protect herself and her family in the future, and helped kick-start a personal mission to help prevent similar situations for others.
Fabian-Isaacs had a friend who happened to be affiliated with LegalShield, and after learning about the variety of plans they offered and the menial cost for membership, she not only signed up herself but started selling memberships to others as well.
Multiple types of membership plans are available for purchase for individuals and businesses alike. Individuals can choose between the standard and expanded legal plans, while three different plans are available for business owners: one for self-employed individuals, one for businesses with up to 50 employees, and one for businesses with up to 100 employees.
In addition to the memberships described above, LegalShield offers a unique identity theft coverage plan as well. “Our identity theft is distinct from anything else on the market,” Isaacs explains. “We actually do all of the restoration work, so a person who has our membership in our identity theft plan doesn’t have to do all that work themselves as is usually the case…We send a licensed investigator to work for them to get all of the mischief restored back to the way it was before the trouble started.”
LegalShield employs Kroll, Inc., to do the restoration work in cases of identity theft, one of the world’s leading risk consulting firms, who, as Fabian-Isaacs explains, was instrumental in tracking down oil profits skimmed by Saddam Hussein. Because most identity theft cases often turn into legal situations, the partnership came naturally. People can work to restore their identity while simultaneously addressing any pending legal issues or concerns that may accompany the loss of their sensitive personal information.
The LegalShield plan doesn’t just cover simple credit or bank matters, as Fabian-Isaacs explains. “It’s not just your credit; it covers your medical identity, drivers license identity, your social security identity, your character and criminal identity…actually credit is only 27 percent of your total identity.”
Although many people feel confident that any indiscriminate use of their banking or financial information is covered through their bank, as Fabian-Isaacs explains, it’s not quite that simple. “That’s a misconception that people often have, that ‘I have identity theft through my bank so I’m covered.’ Well, you’re really not. All your bank is going to do is maybe alert you to the fact that something is going on, but as far as fixing it, you’re on your own.”
Identity theft and legal plans are offered as separate memberships, but a discount is available for those wanting the maximum amount of protection for themselves or their families.
For more information about LegalShield memberships, contact Constance Fabian-Isaacs by telephone at 918.764.9381, by email at conniefisaacs@gmail.com or visit her website at www.cfabianisaacs.legalshield.com.
Updated 01-25-2013
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