The first part in this series of articles on the Referral Attorney Database (RAD) will address the various entities that utilize and maintain the database. The RAD is a database listing all the attorneys who have been recruited by Pre-Paid Legal or the state provider law firms and are qualified to provide services to Pre-Paid Legal members as assigned. The RAD contains information about the attorneys, their practice areas and qualifications to be a part of the Pre-Paid Legal referral network.

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. was one of the first companies in the United States organized solely to design, underwrite and market legal expense plans. In July, 1969, Harland Stonecipher, Pre-Paid Legal, Inc.’s founder, was involved in a head-on collision which resulted in serious legal fees. While he had auto insurance to cover the damage to his car and medical insurance to cover the cost of his hospital stay, he had no coverage or protection for the legal bills that he accumulated. Soon after his accident Mr. Stonecipher began researching the legal expense plan industry in Europe.

Today Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. offers its members a wide range of services. Plans are available to meet the need of both families and businesses. Pre-Paid Legal members are served by provider law firms, which have been carefully screened and selected by Pre-Paid Legal, Inc. Using the plan, members simply call their provider firm directly at the toll-free number on their membership card when they have a legal question or problem. Some members have cases that are assigned directly by Pre-Paid Legal Services to an attorney in the referral network due to their membership or potential conflict with the provider law firm.

Pre-Paid Legal Provider Firms are carefully screened and selected by Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. to service the legal needs of Pre-Paid Legal members throughout the United States and Canada. These firms provide telephonic consultation, document review and other services covered by the various membership plans. If a member needs to be referred to an attorney outside of the provider firm, the provider firm’s referral department will use the Referral Attorney Database (RAD) to locate an attorney with the appropriate practice areas and location for the members needs.

PrimeLegal, LC provides online marketing and technology services to law firms throughout the United States and Canada. PrimeLegal LC developed and maintains the Referral Attorney Database on behalf of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. PrimeLegal maintains the paperwork needed for attorneys to continue to be a part of the referral network (updated insurance, questionnaire, agreements). Once an attorney is approved and active on the RAD, PrimeLegal will contact them annually to update their information. Please provide PrimeLegal, LC with the requested information as quickly as possible to insure your listing on the RAD stays active.

Pre-Paid Legal Referral Procedures

Teamwork is essential to complete a large task. Anytime you meet an individual who is extremely successful, they usually say that there was a team behind them that supported the effort.

Providing legal services for the members of Pre-Paid Legal (PPL) is a large task, and it takes a large team of phenomenal individuals to accomplish the task. The associates market the product and you, the attorneys, provide the service. The corporate offices are here to support the associates, the attorneys and the members.

With 1.5 million family memberships across North America, it takes an army of attorneys to provide the services. You are a part of nearly 6,000 referral attorneys who provide the legal services to these members, and we cannot tell you how much we appreciate you.

This is a short discussion of the Pre-Paid Legal Referral Procedures. Hopefully, this will alleviate any confusion as to how to handle a referral that is received from Pre-Paid.

First of all, we would like to discuss where your referrals will come from:

1. Your state provider law firm (PLF)

   1. If the PLF is too far from the legal issue, they refer the matter to a referral attorney.

   2. If the PLF has a heavy workload and is unable to take the case, they will refer the matter to a referral attorney.

   3. If the PLF does not handle the area of law of a particular case, they will refer that matter to a referral attorney who does practice that area of law

1. PLFs outside of your state/province due to the location of the issue.

1. Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

   1. There are members who have old PPL plans that were extended to the members well before the provider law firms existed. These members are referred to attorneys by the PPL corporate office.

   2. The PPL corporate office refers all members who live in states/provinces without a PLF. Currently, there is a PLF in every state (with the exception of Alaska), as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

   3. When a member calls the provider law firm with an issue that poses a conflict of interest (COI) for the firm, the member is then sent to the corporate office for a referral to a referral attorney.

When receiving referrals from a PLF or the PPL corporate offices, please keep in mind that referrals cannot be placed by email or fax. The consultants are required to assign the referrals by telephone.

As you are providing service to PPL members, there are a few things to remember:

1. If you need to provide additional title one services, you must receive approval prior to providing those services. Do not write additional letters or review additional documents unless approval has been granted.
2. You must check and clear all conflicts of interest prior to accepting the referral.
3. You will receive a billing sheet for each referral. Once the services are rendered, please promptly complete the form and return to the provider or PPL (whoever assigned the referral to you).
4. If for any reason you cannot assist the member, please notify the provider firm or PPL as soon as possible.
5. DO NOT “forward” referrals… not even to another attorney within your firm! If you are unable to assist and need another attorney to take the case, please advise the provider or PPL.
6. Respond promptly by telephone to accept a referral.
7. Upon acceptance of a referral, call the member – preferably on the same day.
8. If you cannot personally call the member, please ask a staff person to call and set an appointment.
9. If possible, provide the initial consultation by telephone.
10. Please do not accept referrals if your schedule does not allow you to assist the member quickly (keep vacations and case load in mind).
11. Be PROACTIVE! Notify the provider or PPL if the member needs further explanation of benefits or if you believe the member is unhappy with your service for any reason.
12. Communicate to your staff the importance of receiving referrals from the provider or PPL. Make sure that they too go over these procedure.

We hope that this information is useful to you as we strive to make the service to the members of PPL as seamless as possible. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your state provider.

We appreciate all that you do!

What is WOW?

We are dedicated to providing extraordinary legal services tailored to each member's needs and delivered with genuine respect, empathy and concern that comes from the heart and surpasses Members’ expectations.

While the numbers are not to be ignored, we never forget that our members are people, not numbers! As Maya Angelou told the world years ago, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

We seek to provide such extraordinary customer service that our members will rave about our services to friends, family and coworkers alike. The best way to create this type of member is through WOW!...Service from the Heart.

WOW!...Service from the Heart is the PPL Customer Service culture designed especially for our law firms. It is “Service from the heart that literally startles the member with its level of enthusiasm, skill, and personal commitment, exceeding Member's expectations, as well as PPL service standards.”

This program focuses on seven WOW! Creeds:

• FOCUS: I promise to not only hear, but listen.

• OWNERSHIP: I promise to handle each interaction with every Member as if that experience will be the sole factor in determining whether a person keeps the PPL Membership...because it is.

• SENSITIVITY: I promise to treat every Member’s problem as an important issue.

• RESPECT: I promise to treat each Member as an individual who is deserving of my respect, attention and highest level of professionalism.

• COMMUNICATION: I promise to carefully explain the steps of service being provided for Members during each call

• COMPASSION: I promise to communicate sincere concern for our Members

• VALUE: I promise to look for ways to give Members more than they ask, and to create value for them with every call.

The results have far surpassed our expectations!

One Provider Firm staff member wrote to his administrator: “WOW does work if you let it…I kept [The Member] on the phone for a few minutes, I just felt he needed some kind words to help him through. We finally said goodbye and I think he felt a little better. I was kind of choked up for a minute but, you know what? I felt good, because what I offered him came right back and warmed my heart.”

Our administrators are telling us: "...this comparison shows the highest percentage of improvement to date. We certainly attribute this to our WOW Training."

"...I truly love my job. I enjoyed it before, but my role as trainer for WOW! Service from the Heart has provided me with an even higher level of job/life satisfaction. The WOW!... Service from the Heart training isn’t just for work – if taken seriously, it is life changing..."

What better way to change lives than by realizing that in doing so, we change our own?