ADA, Okla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Like the plume
of oil spreading from the April 20
Deepwater Horizon incident, confusion and uncertainty are swirling
around the Gulf Coast region, particularly the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. With thousands of coastal residents
searching for answers to legal questions about their rights and
potential claims against BP, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE:
PPD) members (customers) have some comfort in knowing they are only
a phone call away from legal counsel from their local market PPD
provider law firm.
Pre-Paid Legal Services has provider law firms in the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and two firms in the state of
Florida. Among these five law
firms, the average tenure as a PPD provider firm is more than 13
years.
Harland C. Stonecipher, PPD's
Chairman of the Board, believes these long-term relationships with
provider law firms are particularly important during this
crisis.
"The Gulf oil spill has created a toxic environment, not only
within the waters of Gulf of
Mexico, but also in the communities where citizens are
searching for practical answers from trusted legal counsel,"
Stonecipher said. "PPD members can turn to our provider attorneys
knowing the services offered under the Pre-Paid Legal plan will be
personal, practical and proven. The value of this service during a
time of crisis can't be over stated," he said.
With an estimated 137,000 members in the four-state region, the
requests for legal services from PPD members are still limited;
however, PPD provider firm attorneys anticipate a high volume of
contacts over the coming weeks and months.
Addressing Confusion and Uncertainty
"As people realize the potential long-term effect of this
disaster, there will be a ground swell of claims by those
affected," said Ron Glantz, founding
partner in Plantation,
Florida-based Glantz & Glantz, P.A.
(www.glantzlaw.com) and the PPD provider law firm in
South Florida.
"Many are still shell-shocked by what has occurred and what
continues day by day," Glantz said. "In working with our Pre-Paid
Legal members, our intention is to provide a realistic appraisal of
their situation and, where appropriate, advocate on their
behalf."
Charles L. Anderson, founding
member of The Anderson Law Firm, L.L.C.
(www.theandersonlawfirm.com), and the PPD provider law firm
in Montgomery, Alabama, is
counseling PPD members to consider the potential long-term effects
of the Gulf oil spill.
"The damage caused by this environmental disaster could go on
for years and have a rippling effect from industry to industry,"
Anderson said. "There are still more questions than answers and I
expect it will be that way for sometime."
In Mississippi, Pre-Paid Legal
Services members are represented by Nixon, Ray & Framme, PLLC
(www.nixonlaw.net). Partner Jacob
Ray recalls visiting a company worksite at the request of
one of his PPD members.
"The company was on the verge of closing down as a result of the
oil spill, yet the workers didn't consider themselves victims of
the disaster," Ray said. "This is a critical time for those
affected by the disaster to understand their rights and to know
when those rights have been violated," Ray said.
In North Florida, PPD members
are represented by Orlando-Florida
based deBeaubien, Knight, Simmons, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP
(www.dbksmn.com). Partner Dan
Mantzaris says that while the "litigation lottery" is well
under way in Florida, his firm is
focusing on providing PPD members with legal counsel for their
immediate needs.
"We have helped our PPD members and other clients with
everything from understanding the claims process to collecting the
necessary information and submitting the claim," Mantzaris said.
"For those individuals who have a claim, we can help them
understand their options and guide them through the maze of the
claims process," he said.
In Louisiana, the legal issues
related to the spill are somewhat different from those of other
Gulf Coast states, since there is a smaller coastal tourism
industry. In Louisiana, concerns
about the halt in oil drilling are the most likely concerns among
PPD members.
Model Delivery
Pre-Paid Legal Services is one of the pioneers in the legal
service plan industry. The company has offered legal service plans
since 1972. PPD offers legal service plans to individuals, small
businesses and employee groups through a network of approximately
40 independent law firms throughout the U.S. and four provinces of
Canada.
PPD utilizes a "closed panel" delivery model to provide legal
services to its 1.5 million members. Unlike the "open panel,"
approach which is essentially a list of providers, the closed panel
is based on the selective use of specific law firms within
geographic regions, which helps ensure that PPD members receive
dedicated local market legal services through law firms that are
monitored for quality assurance with real- time analytics developed
by PPD.
"We believe this closed panel approach is the best way to
deliver legal services and it is especially valuable in a situation
like the one facing the people of the Gulf Coast during this
environmental crisis," Stonecipher said. "In situations like this,
trust and proven performance are essential."
About PPD -- We believe our products are one of a kind,
life events legal service plans. Our plans provide legal service
benefits including unlimited attorney consultation as well as will
preparation, traffic violation defense, automobile-related criminal
charges defense, letter writing, document preparation and review
and a general trial defense benefit. We have an identity theft
restoration product we think is also one of a kind because of the
combination of outside vendors and our provider law firms. More
information about us and our products can be found at our homepage
at http://www.prepaidlegal.com.
Forward-Looking Statements -- Statements in this press
release, other than purely historical information, regarding our
future plans and objectives and expected operating results,
dividends and share repurchases and statements of the assumptions
underlying such statements, constitute forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on
certain assumptions that may not be correct. They are subject to
risks and uncertainties incident to our business that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are
described in the reports and statements filed by us with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including (among others) those
listed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, and include the
risks that our membership persistency or renewal rates may decline,
that we may not be able to continue to grow our memberships and
earnings, that we are dependent on the continued active
participation of our principal executive officer, that pending or
future litigation may have a material adverse effect on us if
resolved unfavorably to us, that we may have compromises of our
information security, that consumer purchases of discretionary
items may be impacted by a downturn in the economy, that we could
be adversely affected by regulatory developments, that competition
could adversely affect us, that we are substantially dependent on
our marketing force, that our stock price may be affected by short
sellers, that we have been unable to increase our employee group
membership sales, that our active premium in force is not
indicative of future revenue as a result of changes in active
memberships from cancellations and additional membership sales and
that we have repurchased more than half of our outstanding shares.
Please refer to pages 16 through 19 of our 2009 Form 10-K for a
more complete description of these risks. We undertake no duty to
update any of the forward looking statements in this release.
SOURCE Pre-Paid Legal Services