Real Estate Issues Tops List of PPD’s Legal Services Requests for First Half of 2010

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</b> -- 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.