Published By Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
Group legal plans must deliver services and not excuses. Client organizations expect that their employees receive the pre-paid legal services which they require. Some assistance, however, might not be part of the group legal plan.
Legal services will cover common issues such as writing simple wills or reviewing legal documents. These are important, but sometimes a group legal plan member might need something else. Adoption, real estate, immigration, and divorce laws are examples of specialty areas within the legal system. A plan attorney may not have the necessary expertise to be useful. Clients do not want any excuses; they want service! Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services can assist the plan member even if it means going outside the standard plan benefits.
The Process
Countrywide will make referrals to qualified attorneys who possess the unique skills a plan member needs. Our relationship with such professionals is a little bit beyond the ordinary but we will do that for our clients and their employees. This is not an opportunity for any outside lawyer to take advantage of a plan member.
We have a network of attorneys to whom we make referrals. Even though these people can charge higher hourly rates to others, they do not have that luxury with Countrywide. The Countrywide group legal plan members will receive a 25% discount on hourly and scheduled rates from these referral attorneys. If there are contingency fee cases, these are to be provided at a 10% discount from the standard contingency percentage.
Clients may be concerned that the standard rate is deliberately inflated to cover the discount. There is no reason to worry about that because countrywide take steps to ensure it does not happen. A referral attorney is required to submit to us a schedule of the fees that a person charges. We use that information to prevent an attorney from deliberately padding the bill.
We go a step further to protect a plan member from price gouging. We checked the bill to make sure there are no hidden costs, fees, or charges. We want the information provided upfront so that a countrywide plan member knows in advance what to expect when it comes to a filing fee.
We take great pride in giving empathy and courtesy to all our plan members. We expect that from the outside lawyers as well. These other attorneys must treat a Countrywide referral as if that person were an established client. Our plan member is to be given respect and shown empathy. Any attorney who is unwilling to do that for us cannot expect to get any business from Countrywide; it is that simple.
Going the Extra Step
Clients expect to have the services mentioned in the plan document. Countrywide provides that and goes the extra step to guarantee quality. In addition to those options such as consumer protection advice Countrywide plans allow:
- Easy to schedule conferences that respect social distancing
- Allowing attorneys to write correspondence on letterhead stationery and make telephone calls for plan members
- Permitting plan members to ask as many questions as they want a specific matter without being billed
We insist that attorneys who receive our referrals provide the same courtesies for Countrywide plan members.
The Client Selection
Our standard pre-paid legal services are not cast in stone. Clients know what their employees need better than we do. Employers may include desired options in their Countrywide plan document. We furnish high-quality member services and efficient plan administration.
Outside referrals are meant to cover situations where special legal knowledge is essential. We do not hesitate to make necessary referrals because we know it is in our group legal plan members’ interests. We have several pre-paid legal services options that are very attractive and can provide meaningful assistance. If you have any questions about them or our procedures, please contact us at your convenience. We look forward to talking to you and explain the Countrywide program.