01/30/2024
Youâve heard the expression: you get what you pay for? Well, based on some recent emails, we decided to offer the following to our friends.
A warning.
Over the years, weâve had many inquiries from national, pre-paid legal plans. We recently got another one. Apparently an individual down in the Bozeman area was in some sort of construction dispute. He had joined one of these plans. You may have seen them; you pay a monthly fee for 'insurance' in case you need a lawyer. We declined this case, and they kept emailing us. Apparently, they are having a tough time finding a lawyer for their customer.
While these plans might sound great in theory, we thought you might want to see it from the lawyer's perspective. According to the email, the plan member is entitled to the following "benefits" (the following is a quote from the email):
âLegal Matter: Consumer Dispute
âConsumer Dispute Correspondence - $60.00 Paid in Full
âDescription: Preparation of one Consumer Dispute Correspondence for the Member and/or Covered Family Member.â
So, if you are in a consumer dispute, the plan will pay $60.00 to a lawyer for the lawyer to write a letter to the other party. The Plan Administrator reached out to us on several occasions attempting to retain legal counsel on behalf of the plan member, offering these terms.
While we pride ourselves on having reasonable fees and fair billing practices, this is, frankly, a laughable amount. We cannot imagine any reputable law firm taking a case for such low amounts.
Let's use a hypothetical attorney fee of $200.00 per hour, which is low for most practitioners in Great Falls.
Assume I took this on, and agreed to write the letter for the client. Letâs also assume this is a very simple matter, nothing complex about it. I will have a phone call, probably at least 30 minutes, to understand the facts of the dispute. The client will email me the written documentation, which will take me at least 20 minutes to review. I'll spend, say, 60 minutes drafting a letter to the opposing party (assume this happens to fall into my exact area of expertise, so I don't even need to review the applicable statutes, let alone do research). I send a draft to the client for review, he or she makes some comments, and sends it back. I review the comments for 10 minutes, and send it to the opposing party. At this point, I have two hours into this project. At $200.00 an hour, thatâs $400.00.
Yet this plan wants me to agree to do this for $60.00. Assuming I have plenty of work to do, even at a low rate for the market of $200.00/hour (and I do), why would I ever want to provide $400.00 of work for $60.00? That works out to $30.00/hourâyou cannot find any trade professionals, let alone an attorney, at such a low rate. It would be hard to imagine any attorney being able to afford necessities like malpractice insurance, legal research services, and a support staff billing at such low rates. And why would an attorney want to take a $340.00 loss on his or her time so some third-party, pre-paid legal plan can charge you $30.00 a month, and make a profit on his or her reduced rate? Answer: They wouldnât.
Who would?
Perhaps an attorney who did not have any work might be willing to do this. Who are the attorneys that donât have any work? They are attorneys who have no experience and are trying to build a practice, or they are experienced attorneys who, for whatever reason, cannot make it in the marketplace. Is that who you want to represent you in a dispute with a construction company? Is that what you think youâre paying for when these companies advertise to you?
Hereâs a better approach. Call us for a free consultation, and weâll discuss the problem with you. If we cannot take it (whether due to lack of time, or lack of expertise), we will provide you with competent referrals. If we can take it, we will discuss fees. If they ask, we will always work with clients to give them an estimate of what their expenses will be for our initial investigation and letter. You will be working with someone YOU chose, and who knows what he or she is doing in the particular area, or we will refer you out.
Or you can spend $30 bucks a month for a lawyer who is willing to work for $30.00 per hourâŠ
