In today's litigious business climate, most small business owners will find themselves requiring the services of an attorney on a regular basis. When drawing up a buy-sell agreement, reviewing a lease or collecting funds, it is imperative that a business owner seek the advice of a licensed professional.

Most business owners try to avoid the high cost of legal care by utilizing the self-help approach. This leads to costly mistakes that can be financially devastating down the road. Small Business Legal Plan members have access to a nationwide network of pre-qualified attorneys who are contracted to provide free and discounted legal care. Members can save thousands of dollars each year and avoid the pitfalls of self-help legal care.

• Unlimited initial phone consultation for each new legal matter
• Attorney review of 5 independent documents each quarter (10 page maximum each)
• When appropriate, plan attorneys will make an initial phone call on behalf of business (2 per month)
• When appropriate, plan attorneys will write an initial letter on behalf of the business (3 per month for new subjects)
• Initial collection letters (10 per quarter)
• One initial face to face consultation for each new legal matter (30 minutes maximum)
• Become the registered agent for the business in the state in which it was incorporated
• In certain situations, attorney liability may require plan attorneys to ask for a retainer from the member prior to providing some of the free legal services.

Plan attorneys will provide extended legal care at the reduced hourly rate of $125.00 or 40% off attorney’s usual and customary hourly rate, whichever is greater. In most cases, attorneys can accurately estimate the hours for any given case.

Attorneys often work on a contingency fee basis on cases such as personal injury and collections. This fee is usually expressed as a percentage of the amount collected or awarded. In collection matters, attorneys will accept 18% if the case is settled before formal court proceedings begin. After proceedings begin, the fee is 27%. On all other contingency matters, there is a 10% discount on the lower of either the state maximum or the attorney's standard rate.

In the case of extended legal care, plan attorneys may ask you for a retainer. Any retainer sought will be computed by multiplying the number of hours a plan attorney believes a case will take, by the appropriate discounted hourly plan rate. For instance; 10 hours x $125.00 = a retainer of $1,250.00. Any unused portion of the retainer will be returned to you.

*Court costs, filing fees and time charged for travel to and from any courts are additional.

To utilize any of the following services, simply call the 1800 number provided to you. After providing the customer service representative with your name, membership or case number, and the type of legal matter you have, you will be provided with the toll-free number to contact to obtain the name, address, and telephone number of an attorney who can assist you with your legal matter.

Matters involving disputes or actions between members and small business legal plan or its plan sponsors, agents or their officers, directors, or employees are specifically excluded from eligibility of this plan. Court costs, filing fees, and travel to and from any courts are excluded from discounted rates under any of the discounted pricing described in this fee schedule.