ADA, Okla., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Real
estate-related issues was the leading legal service request among
members (customers) of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD)
during the first half of 2010 followed by 2) consumer finance, 3)
family law, 4) collections and 5) estate planning. The top five
legal service requests for the first six-months of the year is
based on the total volume of approximately 1.1 million member
requests for legal services to the 40 independent provider law
firms that assist Pre-Paid Legal members throughout the U.S. and
four provinces of Canada.
"The top legal service requests from Pre-Paid Legal Services
members for the first half of 2010 are the same as for the entire
year in 2009," said Pre-Paid Legal's Founder and Chairman of the
Board Harland C. Stonecipher. "Our members continue to access a
variety of legal services in response to life issues brought on by
a weak economy and high unemployment. Looking down the list, from
houses (real estate) to credit cards (consumer finance) to kids
(family law), the economy's domino effect is all too apparent,"
Stonecipher said.
Of the total requests for legal services, the top five list
accounts for 47 percent, or approximately 533,000 of the total
legal service requests since January
1 of this year. The remaining 597,000 requests were for a
variety of other legal services, such as traffic-related matters,
employment issues, criminal violations, bankruptcy and business
issues.
By category, the top five legal service requests include:
Real Estate, Landlord/Tenant Issues, Foreclosure and Loan
Modification – Approximately 174,400 requests, or 15 percent of
the total requests, were for issues that include residential and
commercial real estate transactions, landlord/tenant disputes and
legal counsel related to foreclosure, short sales and loan
modifications
Consumer Finance – Approximately 103,400 requests, or 9
percent of the total requests, were for issues related to retail
transactions for warranties, guarantees and other contracts
Family Law – Approximately 97,700 requests, or 9 percent
of the total requests, were for legal services related to divorce,
child support, child custody and child visitation
Collections – Approximately 79,000 requests, or 7 percent
of the total requests, were for debt issues, including member
support against other parties and member defense against
third-party debt collectors
Estate Planning – Approximately 78,000 requests, or 7
percent of the total requests, were for services that include
preparation of wills and other counsel related to final estates
Robert W. LoPresti, a partner
with Los Angeles-based
Parker Stanbury, LLP
(http://www.parkstan.com) says it is no surprise that real estate
issues tops the list of legal services requests both nationally and
for the State of California.
"When the real estate bubble burst, it created an outpouring of
requests for legal services related to foreclosure, loan
modification and landlord tenant issues," LoPresti said. "In the
first six months of this year, Parker
Stanbury has responded to an estimated 240,000 requests for
legal services from Pre-Paid Legal members, and more than 50,000 of
these requests concerned real estate issues," he said.
Parker Stanbury, LLP has provided
legal services to PPD members in the California market for the past 14 years.
Richard A. Campbell, a partner
with Atlanta-based Deming, Parker,
Hoffman, Campbell & Daly, LLC
(http://www.deminglaw.com/index.html), says that many of the legal
issues found on the top five list are interconnected.
"Each of these legal issues begins and ends with money,"
Campbell said. "Whether it's foreclosure, bankruptcy, consumer debt
or family law, it's about money and often the amount is
significant. Considering the high cost of traditional legal
services, it's not surprising that people often delay in dealing
with these matters. By waiting to obtain quality legal advice, the
problems don't go away. They only grow larger," he said.
Deming, Parker, Hoffman, Campbell & Daly, LLC, has been
Pre-Paid Legal's Georgia provider
law firm since 1990.
The PPD top five list of legal service plan requests is based on
statistical data collected from the provider law firms and shared
with PPD. PPD maintains a rigorous monitoring system and conducts
surveys which provide feedback on the customer service experience
of PPD members with the provider law firms. This is one of the
distinguishing characteristics of PPD's "Provider Law Firm Network
System." The average tenure for provider law firms in the PPD
network is more than 12 years.
About PPD -- We believe our products are one of a kind,
life events legal service plans. Our plans provide for legal
service benefits provided through a network of independent law
firms across the U.S. and Canada,
and include 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 and pages
7 and 8 of our June 30, 2010 Form
10-Q 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, Inc.