It is a fair assumption that the experience most people will have with the judicial system will be in the small claims court. This is where suits are filed for damages of up to $5000; it is not the place where the multimillion dollar consumer complaint cases are filed. Small doesn’t mean simple. Anyone who brings a case before small claims is going to find there is a lot of legal trivial pursuit that happens. It is going to be nerve-racking unless a person has some assistance from experienced professionals. The lawyers of a comprehensive group legal plan to provide such help to the plan members.
Sifting through the Documents
The evidence presented in a small claims case has to be sound. What may seem to be pretty obvious can become clouded if the evidence is not properly prepared. Preparation is one of the group legal services that an attorney can provide. This legal professional is going to help the plan member organize evidence so that it is coherent, and leads to a conclusion that benefits that person. Lawyers rarely show up in court for small claims cases. However, they do offer suggestions on how to present the facts, and they caution about possible problems that could develop such as counterclaims. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has an option in its Personal Legal Protector Plan which provides advice to group legal plan members about small claims cases. That is not the only service that Countrywide provides in these situations.
Comprehensive Assistance in Resolving a Case
Legal insiders will readily admit that most cases never reach the bench; settlements are negotiated outside the court. A Countrywide lawyer provides a number of additional group legal services that can bring about a satisfactory conclusion without resorting to the court filing. Our attorneys are more than willing to send correspondence on letterhead stationery and make telephone calls on behalf of a client. Making use of negotiation skills honed over years of experience, the lawyers may be able to persuade the other side to be more reasonable. Unfortunately, that does not always happen and a formal court cases result. A group legal plan member has to understand that while the court may rule in his or her favor, the judgment will not be pursued. The individual has responsibility of achieving the award. Again, the Countrywide lawyer provides the kind of assistance needed. In such situation the lawyers are able to help with processing the paperwork to garnish the defendant’s wages, and place a lien on the property. Anything practicable to obtain that rightful payment will be done.
Reducing the Time Needed
What is aggravating about small claims case is the amount of time necessary to prepare it. A plaintiff may be spending hours outside of work or even taking time off to get everything prepared. This means hours are not spent on important business projects. Countrywide knows how important it is to eliminate these distractions from work. Our attorneys are able to take the load off a person shoulders, and the administration of our group legal services is deliberately streamlined. No plan member needs to spend excessive amounts of time preparing the small claims case; our attorneys handle much of that.
An employee should not have to spend tedious hours preparing a case. Their time is better spent being productive, and management can help with a good group legal benefit plan. We have been designing group legal plan benefits since 1987, and we have worked with all types of organizations. We can provide the kind of group legal services benefits that eliminates a lot of legal grief and distraction. We also see to it that our plans are flexible and are exactly what the employer wants to have the workforce. We would appreciate any questions that human resources or any corporate decision-maker may have about our benefit plans.
Countrywide can make the legal system less of a nightmare and more responsive to the needs of productive employees. Please contact us today for more information or to schedule a presentation.