1. Understand the provider firm’s responsibilities to Pre-Paid Legal members:
   a. Duty to determine member benefits
   b. Duty to provide benefits under the contract
   c. Duty to resolve complaints (member resolution requests)
2. Do a conflict check before you accept a referral assignment.
3. Accept or reject a referral within 24 hours of the provider firm contacting you or your staff.
4. Keep the provider firm informed of any attorney or staff changes at your firm.
5. When a provider firm contacts your office and you accept a referral, please assist the member with their issue when they call (it may be the same day). Members should not have to wait for the referral letter to arrive at your office via mail in order to receive assistance. If you need referral paperwork before you can assist the member, please let the provider firm's referral dept know at the time of their initial call and they can fax or email the necessary information to you.
6. Call or email the provider firm at any time if you have a question about coverage on a referral.
7. Respond to Pre-Paid Legal members within 24 hours of their call to you. If you cannot call, have a staff person contact the member to arrange an appointment/call back time.
8. Explain the fees, retainer agreement and your discount to the member. Always explain the benefit of the Pre-Paid Legal referral to the client.
   a. 25% discount on hourly billing
   b. 25% discount on flat fee billing
   c. Provide a reasonable discounted rate on contingency billing
9. Keep the clients informed of the status of their case.
10. Give clients a timeline for their issue (general idea of how long steps will take).
11. Keep detailed notes on each case and any calls made to/from the clients.
12. DO NOT refer a Pre-Paid Legal client to another attorney. If you cannot assist a member who has been referred to your office, please call the provider firm’s referral department and let them know. You should also advise the member to contact their provider law firm for assistance with another referral.
13. Keep open communication - contact Pre-Paid Legal or the appropriate Pre-Paid Legal provider firm with any questions or problems.

WOW: Compassion

I promise to communicate sincere concern for each client’s issue, and to express appreciation for the opportunity to help them, share their burdens and lighten their load.

The day-to-day work of an attorney can sometimes feel clinical.  The result of an attorney’s work often has a great emotional impact on the client’s life.  The service attorneys provide goes far beyond consumerism.

The vast majority of praise letters received by Pre-Paid Legal Services have nothing to do with the attorney’s legal expertise or courtroom prowess.  Rather, these letters praise the attorney’s patience, diligence and compassion.  Clients want to know that you care about their case.  Showing compassion for a client is easier than you think.

Here are some simple tips to help let clients know you care:

• Show genuine concern by voicing sympathy and interest in the member’s issue.  Just because you have seen a particular legal issue many times doesn’t mean the client has experienced it before.
• Do not argue with a client. You are in control of the conversation and arguing with a client will only turn a bad situation worse.
• Do not be inflexible. Sometimes making an extra push to help a member can go a long way toward creating a better attorney-client bond.
• Let the client vent. Most clients who are upset will calm down once they have a chance to get their frustration off their chest.
• Do not be afraid to show sympathy or empathy for a client dealing with a difficult problem.
• Tell clients what you can do, not what you can’t.

Why Attorneys Should Use PDF Documents

In the past few years, portable document format (PDF) files became the legal industry’s standard electronic file format.  Here are just a few of the reasons why PDF files are the best option for attorneys.

• PDF files are a worldwide standard and are easy to open on Windows, Mac and Linux based PCs.
• PDF files are safe and secure. You can control the level of security on a PDF document to prohibit changes and even include a watermark.  PDF documents also prevent the passing of potentially damaging meta data to opposing parties. 
• PDF documents are easy to create. PDF documents can be made with all major word processing programs and can even be created from scanned documents.  They may also be easily combined.
• PDF documents allow for easy collaboration. Attorneys can add comments or propose changes when collaborating on a document.
• Forms can easily be created in Adobe Acrobat Professional. This tool allows attorneys to develop questionnaires for clients, which can be completed on a computer and submitted electronically.

If your law firm is not yet using PDF as its standard file format, think about making the switch soon.