Found a better way to hire a lawyer? So you look at those prepaid plans and like to join as an associate, but you keep wondering, “Is LegalShield A Scam?”
In my LegalShield review, I’ll cover the below topics to help you make up your mind. You surely can make better decisions once you read this article to the end.
- What Is LegalShield?
- LegalShield Legal Services and Prepaid Plans
- How To Make Money with LegalShield?
- LegalShield Compensation Plan
- LegalShield Income Disclosure
- My Alternative to Make Money Online
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Disclaimer: As the owner of Smileaffiliatesuccess.com, I have tracked down special deals for products, tools, and services mentioned herein. When you click my affiliate links on this page to make a purchase, I may get a small commission, and you will definitely get a great bargain. This is a win-win advantage for both of us.
What Is LegalShield?
-Summary of LegalShield-
Product Name: LegalShield
Founders: founded by Harland Stonecipher in 1972
Product Type: Legal service MLM(multi-level-marketing)
Price: $99 associate sign-up fee
Recommend: No
Harland Stonecipher found LegalShield in 1972 as the Sportsman’s Motor Club. He was in a car accident and found himself in debt for the legal processes, so he decided to create an MLM company that provides legal services at an affordable cost.
In 1976, it was incorporated as Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. In 2011, Pre-Paid Legal agreed to merge with MidOcean Partners and changed its name to LegalShield.
They offer a wide range of legal services, including consumer finance issues, traffic violations, and accidents, estate planning, etc. All the above services are based on prepaid plans with monthly subscription costs.
LegalShield Legal Services
Depending on the prepaid plans, you will get different coverages. But, all the plans pretty much cover the below services.
- Consumer finance issues
- Traffic violations and accidents
- Estate planning
- Landlord/tenant
- Family law and divorce
- Real Estate
- Employment
- Civil Litigation
- Criminal
LegalShield Prepaid Plans
LegalShield provides both personal and business plans, and you may choose the one that suits your needs.
Personal Plan
It costs $29.95 to $145 per month and includes the below services.
- Consultations: Provide advice by phone, write letters & make phone calls on your behalf or review documents.
- Documents preparations: Will preparation, durable power of attorney, mortgage document preparation, etc.
- Traffic tickets and motor vehicle services: Defense of moving violations, auto accidents, and criminal charge assistance, etc.
- Family Services: Divorce, annulment, adoption, or name changes assistance.
Small Business Plan
There are three types of legal services with costs ranging from $49 to $169 per month. Those plans provide access to a provider law firm to assist your business with a wide variety of business legal matters.
Here are what the plans cover:
- Legal consultation with your local attorney
- Document review and contract drafting
- Debt Collection
- Designated consultation for a specialized area of law
Does LegalShield Service Work?
From their website, I can tell they provide lots of legal services that we need, just like insurance. But, I am not personally using LegalShield’s legal assistance, I cannot give you my firsthand experience.
I managed to find what happy and unhappy users have to say about their services, which will help you make better decisions.
-The Positive-
-The Negative-
Both positive & negative comments are equally important to know LegalShield’s services, and I believe you have a clear picture now.
How To Make Money With LegalShield?
In LegalShield, you have three options to make money by the compensation plan:
- Sell LegalShield prepaid plans to make commissions
- Recruit people to become LegalShield associates to get extra bonuses
- Get the passive income when members referred by you keep paying the monthly fee
There are no surprises or differences compared to other MLMs, so it’s safe to say LegalShield is a legitimate MLM business opportunity.
Getting Started
You have two options to join LegalShield.
- The first one is to join as a normal member. Simply purchase the personal plan whenever you need legal advice.
- The second is to join as an associate with a $99 sign-up fee. LegalShield will provide you with online training, the weekly newsletter, support center, associate perks, and help from sponsor/team/local leaders.
LegalShield Compensation Plan
LegalShield compensation works on a “pay one-year advance” system. Meaning you get one-year commissions once you make any sales. If someone cancels the monthly subscription, you will be charged back against future commission advances.
Here are the basics of the LegalShield Compensation Plan:
- Personal Commissions: You sell LegalShield prepaid plans, then you get commissions. In other words, the more you sell, the higher your commissions.
- Override Bonus: When an associate in your organization makes a sale, you will receive the override bonus for each level between yourself and the next active Associate in your downline.
- Residual Income: If your members stay with the plan after the first year, you’ll earn residual income. Building up a long-term relationship with your customers helps you get the most benefits from this plan.
How Much Do You Need to Sell to Stay Active?
If you have joined any MLMs before, you’ll know every MLM has minimum requirements.
In this case, you need to sell three memberships each quarter to stay active for the business.
LegalShield Ranking
There are seven levels in the compensation plan. You start as an associate, and you will gradually move up to the following levels once you make more personal sales and have more downline associates.
- Associate
- Senior Associate
- Manager
- Senior Manager
- Director
- Senior Director
- Executive Director
What I Liked About LegalShield
TOP#1 A Good Concept For A Product
We all need legal advice in some situations, and we don’t want to pay much for the service. So, the legal service subscription is right to people’s needs, and we all can take advantage of LegalShield.
TOP#2 No Stockpiling Issues
LegalShield provides legal services, so you won’t place orders for any physical products like traditional MLMs. We won’t have stockpiling issues like Shaklee or Mary Kay, and that’s good to know!
TOP#3 LegalShield App On Your Palm
I am lazy, so I would be excited if there is an app that I could get access to legal service. This is what I feel when I see the LegalShield App.
It’s like a whole legal office on your mobile phone, although contacting the attorney is something we try to avoid.
Ugly Truth About LegalShield
TOP#1 LegalShield Income Disclosure
It is not an overnight success, and I admire the honesty from LegalShield. Let’s look at the income disclosure from the official website HERE.
They mentioned, “For Associates with 0-2 years of experience who made at least one sale, average annual earnings were $798 for 2019. Approximately 73% of all Associates across experience years made less than $1,000 in 2019.“
Would you quit your daily 9-5 jobs by only making less than $1,000 in a year? I guess you won’t, and you probably take LegalShield as a part-time job, right?
Here are other interesting numbers you need to know:
- For associates who join LegalShield less than 1 year, the average annual income is $459.
- For associates who join LegalShield less than 2 years, the average annual income is $1266.
- For associates who join LegalShield less than 3 years, the average annual income is $1735.
Figures do not include individuals who may have received money from renewals or income from team sales but did not make a sale in 2019. So, if they calculate every associate in, the numbers will be so much lower.
TOP#2 Lawsuits
Here are some lawsuits I found on the internet. It seems like LegalShield used to mislead people by its compensation plan.
- In 2001, Pre-Paid Legal paid $4,000 for civil penalties, reimbursed Wyoming state for $1,000 in costs, and refunded $2,000 to participants because they were using prohibited income representations to misled associates.
- In 2004, there were around 250 plaintiffs filed about 30 lawsuits in Alabama against Pre-Paid, all of them were settled or dismissed later by 2006.
- In 2005, Pre-Paid was found guilty of deceptive advertising and fraud and the court requested them to pay $9.9 million in punitive damages.
TOP#3 Many Complaints
On LegalShield’s BBB page, it shows they have a total of 190 complaints in the last three years, but only 69 cases were solved in the previous 12 months. Most complaints are about the refund policy and membership cancellation process.
Can You Make Money Selling LegalShield?
Yes, you can take LegalShield as your part-time job to cover some of your bills, but you can’t rely on it to quit your 9-5 jobs. I know someone makes decent money with the LegalShield compensation plan, but it’s not my top pick.
Is LegalShield A Scam?
No, LegalShield is not a scam. No scam could exist longer than 49 years. LegalShield has legal services and pre-paid plans, and its associates make money through the compensation plan. Therefore, we can’t say it’s a scam or a pyramid scheme.
But, it would be best if you thought twice about things I don’t like much from LegalShield.
- The low income potential, there is a high possibility you earn less than $1000 in a year.
- Many lawsuits and many complaints on the refund policy and membership cancellation process.
I hope my LegalShield review gathers all the information you need to make a better decision. If you ask me whether I will join it, my answer is no. Let me show you my alternative to making money online.
My Alternative to Make Money Online
I believe that you don’t need to join LegalShield when you can get all affiliate marketing at a $49 membership fee per month or $495 per year. An alternative I do recommend is Wealthy Affiliate(WA).
Doing affiliate marketing will save you from:
- You don’t even need to buy any physical or digital products and sell to someone face to face.
- You also don’t need to convince people to join you as you downlines to build a team.
- You are not restricted to only promote LegalShield prepaid plans. You can promote anything you like!
You can start a blog running an affiliate marketing business. You can write quality content that provides people value and insight. If your readers like your sharing, they will try the products via your links. Here come your earning potentials.
The platform I am using currently is Wealthy Affiliate. You will find all the proven-to-work training courses, every Friday night LIVE training courses, one keyword research tool called Jaaxy, 24/7 site support, and the most friendly community.
You are more than welcome to check my full Wealthy Affiliate review HERE, or click the button right below to start your online journey with us.
Wealthy Affiliate Income Proof
Here are some of the most active members from Wealthy Affiliate. Each of them did succeed in generating a sustainable income to replace their 9-5 jobs. You are more than welcome to check their stories HERE.
- I Made Over $1 Million With Affiliate Marketing.
- Can someone make a full time income promoting WA? You bet they can!
- What Does $1000 Per Day Look Like?$
- 40,000 In One Weekend
- A Very Humbling $12,803.26 Month – August Progress Report
- It’s Getting Better: $500+ in 2 Days
- Newbies Pay Attention! $5,195.20 Affiliate Check for June: Thanks WA!
- Joined the 10K Per Month Club. January Earnings $13,481.39
- New Record: $1,300+ Per DAY! Affiliate Marketing Works & Rocks!
- Made $7,395 in a WEEK: First Black Friday Results!
I hope you enjoy this review, and you are more than welcome to share ideas or leave your comments below. I will reply as soon as I can, thanks.
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Hi Matt,
I’m a little dubious about LegalShield since there is not much-earning potential, but at least they’re honest about that (from what I understand 😉 ), that speaks well of them.
In general, I would not join an MLM, although this one seems a little more interesting since it sells services at affordable prices which are usually way more expensive. So, for a customer, I think that LegalShield can do a lot of good.
Regarding the customer reviews, there are positive and negative ones, so, again, I’m not sure, perhaps like any other company they have professional and unprofessional employees, who knows … The lawsuits, though, are a little more worrisome, I wonder what happened there.
The company seems to be ok, I suppose, but I don’t think I would sign up. I would prefer your alternative method. I don’t like pushing people to buy things, and with Wealthy Affiliate, you can build your own website and learn as you go. Affiliate marketing is on the rise now, and it may be the answer to the situation (coronavirus, everybody staying home) we are going through these days.
Hi Christine,
Yes, I have the same thoughts towards LegalShield. It’s better to be its customers instead of selling its plans as associates because I think we all need the legal advice sometimes in our lives, right?
I also have a FULL review of Wealthy Affiliate and the introduction of affiliate marketing, maybe you will be interested to have a read. 🙂
You are more than welcome.
Matt
Hi, Matt,
It’s frustrating to see that even with a lot of hard work, there is not that big earning potential.
Although, it might be a good choice in terms of becoming their client for their legal services.
I am living in Europe so I wonder if they cover this part of the world too?
Thank you for putting this information together, I honestly learned something new for myself from your post.
Best Wishes,
Natalie
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for coming back for my new review, and I am glad you got my points. It’s sad that people make less than $1000 in one year, and it’s only $84 per month. I believe people should only be LegalShield’s clients instead of joining to promote business opportunities.
As for the area that LegalShield serves, just the USA and Canada. They don’t provide services other than this two countries, sorry to inform you! 🙁
Cheers,
Matt
Hello Matt,
Guess what? I am an Associate of LegalShield! Your review was spot on. You were factual and provided fair information for any reader to make up their own mind. Perhaps I can add some personal information that will add another perspective since I have been a member and an Associate since 2006.
Like you mentioned LegalShield is just like any other MLM company when it comes to the percentage of Associates earning income. The vast majority do not. After I joined, I build up a small network and started to earn residual income. Then I hit the wall where training my recruits and encouraging them to duplicate what I did failed. I was unsuccessful in recruiting any go getters and that made it harder. Those who succeed, manage to do that by finding a few visionaries among the hundreds they need to recruit. It is HARD work. That us why the majority give up. But the few who do not, are able to do very well.
Hence I decided to remain as a customer. However, in contrast to what you stated, my Senior Manager status remained even though I lost my network.
The benefits I received as a member has been out of this world. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve called to get legal advice and have problems resolved. The LegalShield Attorneys have saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years as I will explain below.
I lost my job just before the Great Depression. Our credit card bills and mortgage were overwhelming. The LegalShield attorneys helped us to get our home loan modified where we were able to get one third of the principal forgiven by the bank because of the upside down loan situation. And the interest rate was so low we could afford the mortgage payments.
Following the Load Modification their Attorneys helped us with our Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case where over $250,000 in a combination of credit card and personal loans were forgiven by the courts.
Down the road they got me out of traffic issues by representing me in court without me having to be there. Also, when I was sued unfairly by a contractor, they wrote them a letter explaining why THEY were breaking the law and they should stop their legal actions against me. They removed the mechanics lien they placed on our home.
Hardly a month goes by without me calling LegalShield for advice to review contracts, as well as discuss my legal rights.
And I have been put in touch with Attorneys who were rude and not very civil to me. They were condescending and talked down to me. And wouldn’t give be a chance to talk. So those reviews by people you wrote about who had negative things to say were right. The mistake they made was not to report these Attorneys to LegalShield.
When I get attorneys like that LegalShield WANTS us to report about the bad service. They then assign a different attorney to handle the case. Nobody is perfect. Since these attorneys do not work for LegalShield but are under contract, you are going to get some bad apples. The mistake these members made was not to call LegalShield to discuss how they were treated.
LegalShield tells us that as the Law Firms are pade very well, they have to treat us like VIPs. IN the majority of instances I have.
Regarding the complaint that the service at LegalShield has declined? I have not experienced that. What I have experienced is that occasionally an employee would not know the answer to my question. In that case I ask to speak to someone else. And that usually resolved the issue.
In conclusion, LegalShield is by no means perfect. From my personal experience the services I have received and the problems they have resolved for me far outweigh the occasional inconvenience I have faced as described above.
As an Associate, I will be happy to sign anyone on as a customer. In fact, after I get more experience in my affiliate marketing business, I am going to market LegalShield like an affiliate company. And only when I get happy customers I will offer them the option of becoming an Associate. But only if they are going to duplicate what I do.
All the best to you in your affiliate marketing business.
Edwin
Hi Edwin,
Thanks a lot for your feedback on my LegalShield review, and your honest personal experience makes value to both myself and my readers. I admired your efforts so much on this, and it seems like LegalShield did an excellent service to help you through a hard time.
I agree with you that many attorneys work for LegalShield by contract, so sometimes you will meet bad apples. People need to report the lousy service back to LegalShield to prevent the next customers from being treated rudely and not civilly.
I believe you could do well with LegalShield since you are so happy with the legal services it has to offer, and you are so right for “And only when I get happy customers I will offer them the option of becoming an Associate. But only if they are going to duplicate what I do.” It’s indeed the shortcut to MLM success.
Cheers,
Matt