Is Legalshield A Scam? The Truth About This 4 Decade Old Prepaid Legal Service Provider MLM!

Welcome to My LegalShield Review! 

With all the MLMs we’ve reviewed, from the most famous health care niche to skincare products and more, I could say that this one we’re going to discuss right now in this review is such a peculiar one. 

LegalShield or what was previously known as Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. is an American corporation that sells legal service products through a multi-level marketing platform. These services include attorney consultation, will preparation, traffic violation defense, automobile-related criminal charges defense, letter writing, document preparation and review, and general trial defense.  

Basically, LegalShield offers its services in the US and Canada. It is headquartered in Ada, Oklahoma.  

It was on August 8, 1972, when LegalShield was founded by Harland Stonecipher in Ada, Oklahoma and it was recognized as the Sportsman's Motor Club at that time.  

In 1976, it was incorporated as Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., and it made its initial public offering in 1984.  

It was named Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. from 1976 up until its acquisition by MidOcean Partners in 2011 where the company officially announced that it would change its name to “LegalShield” as an overall rebranding initiative.  

Pre-Paid Legal went from being traded on the New York Stock Exchange back to being a private company due to the acquisition.  

LegalShield began incorporating the MLM business platform way back in 1983 and apparently, it was the first company in the United States to provide pre-paid legal plans and services for individuals. 

With regards to Harland Stonecipher who was LegalShield’s founder, he happens to be a life insurance salesman from Ada, Oklahoma. Well, that’s a pretty good shift from the Life Insurance aspect but I could say that the niche is still somehow connected or alike, other than the protection is for legal matters. 

The company has already been operating for more than 40 years and Harland Stonecipher served as the company's founding president and chief executive officer until 2014. Because unfortunately, Harland passed away due to heart failure on November 10, 2014.  

Apparently, Harland Stonecipher’s inspiration when he created LegalShield’s predecessor the Sportsman's Motor Club was formed due to the car accident that he was involved in in 1969. The story goes that although the other party was at fault, they were the ones who filed a suit against Harland.  

He was then required to hire a lawyer to defend himself in court and struggled to pay the associated legal fees. Thus, the beginning of their 4-decade old cause. Sportsman's Motor Club was created to assist its members with legal concerns and other legal related services.  

LegalShield is also available as an iOS and Android mobile app that can be helpful to entrepreneurs and members who might need immediate legal assistance in the comforts of where they are. 

Legalshield Product Line 

LegalShield offers legal services to help individuals and small businesses obtain prepaid legal services through their different membership plans, primarily categorized into Personal Plans and Small business plans. Individualized for “personal plans” and “small business plans” as protection for businesses.  

Personal Plan - ($24.95/Month) This plan covers all the basic legal services you might need from consultations, document preparation, auto coverage, family matters, IRS support, and identity theft plans such as:

• ID Plan – $14.95/month
• ID Premium – $29.95/month 

Small Business Plan - (Starting At $39/Month) 

Some of the services covered on the LegalShield business plan includes legal consultation regarding debt collection, trial defense services, landlord/tenant disputes, and contract review. LegalShield has a separate website called “Launch” for their business plans. 

Small Business plans are completely customized based on your business’ needs. Below are the cost and details of the different LegalShield Small Business plans and other additional services:

• Small Biz 10 (10 or fewer employees) - $39/month
• Small Biz 50 (50 or fewer employees) - $89/month
• Small Biz 100 (100 or fewer employees) - $139/ month
• Home Business Supplement - ($9.95 on top of the Personal Legal Plan) 

Add-on legal services:

Trial Defense Supplement - ($9.95 on top of the Personal Legal Plan) covers pre-trial and trial preparation work if you have to defend yourself or your business in court.

• Business Formation Services - Starts at $145 plus state filing fees
• Registered Agent - ($120 Per Year) is a person or company who accepts official mail for your business. Most states mandate that you name a registered agent when launching your business. However, prices may vary depending on location.  

Legalshield is a long-standing MLM company that has been on the run for over 40 years. It’s pretty established to be called a scam.  

It was also the first company in the US to provide pre-paid legal plans and services for individuals and still remains one of the sturdy pioneers of the industry. It offers legit services that people can make use of and affiliates can earn from as they sell these plans.  

The company also offers programs to protect their members from identity theft and other security services through its partnership with Kroll Inc. And also, it's a company that is Better Bureau Business (BBB) accredited with an A+ rating. 

Legalshield is legit and is an established MLM company. It comes with services you could not only use but as well as earn from as you market and sell them to others. 

LegalShield’s membership plans are sold as employee benefits directly through a system of independent sales associates throughout the United States and Canada - under LegalShield’s multi-level marketing (MLM) program. 

Though it may encourage recruitment, money is never solely made through it, as sales are still a big part of what you’ll have to work with. Also, associates usually start by making sales on their own and they’re still welcome to remain a solo associate if that's what works best for them. 

In addition, it’s a legal service provider MLM, so it knows the legalities and upholds it. Thus, LegalShield is not a Pyramid and Ponzi Scheme.

To "remain active" in LegalShield’s MLM opportunity, you will need to do one of two things: 

• Maintain a LegalShield membership yourself
• Sell 3 memberships every 3 month

There are 7 ways you can get paid from LegalShield’s compensation plan:

(The ways below include examples that are based on selling the legal services plus identity protection plan at $35.95 a month) 

1. Personal sales advance ($34.57 commission straight away... that's only 8% commission for the yearly membership)
2. Team override ($34.57 on any downline sales)
3. Fast start qualification (double your bonuses if you earn 5 points in 30 days: A membership is worth 1 point and recruiting an associate is 2 points)
4. Performance club bonus (5 points every month to get $150 bonus after months 3 and 6)
5. Car bonus ($500 when you reach a certain "rank")
6. Residual income (keep your membership active and receive a monthly commission on anyone that continues their membership past 12 months)
7. Contests and promotions (reward trips if you sell and recruit during these promotions)

Basically in LegalShield, you will earn by selling memberships and recruiting people.

See more about their compensation plan in the video below:

The current cost of becoming an Associate in LegalShield comes in 2 options plus any applicable state licensing fees. 

• One time fee of $99 then $19.95 monthly
• One time fee of $249 for your first year then $19.95 a month

But as an associate, you’d also probably purchase a plan yourself to attest and market your products well. 

PROS 

Established Company

LegalShield is a 4-decade old company and it’s pretty established. It was the first company in the US to provide pre-paid legal plans and services and it still remains one of the firm pioneers.  

It’s also a pretty unique company and there are only a few competitors in this niche as compared to other niches that are overcrowded.  

Convenient Access To Legal Services

This company provides a unique and affordable way for entrepreneurs to protect themselves, their families, and businesses by subscribing to a plan. It also comes in a mobile app that is available for IOS and Android platforms. LegalShield is also the only online legal service that offers a home business supplement.

CONS

No Money-Back Guarantee / No Trial Membership

This can be as well an advantage as this could be an indication that the company prides itself on an excellent quality of services.   

However, this places them behind other contenders such as Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom who offer a trial membership or money-back guarantee. And it’s a hassle that members can’t have a trial membership or a chance to get a refund once they’ve subscribed. 

Limits To Plans

Just like other online legal services, there are limits to what you get with a monthly subscription in a LegalShield plan. So, you’d probably end up paying bigger, considering that what you are paying monthly with the subscription would add up to a thousand dollars in the years to come. 

Plan Cancellation Hassle

There are concerns about plan cancellation in LegalShield, as people complain that it takes a long time to take action on requests especially in canceling one’s plan subscription. With no immediate action to such requests, It resulted in unnecessary monthly charges on those who have already declared their intentions of discontinuing their subscriptions. What a hassle! 

Not Recommended As A Business Opportunity

Well, if you’re looking for a legal protection plan, then LegalShield may help you. However, there are still limits and you’d probably pay more. 

And as an MLM opportunity, it may not be the best business opportunity for you. Did you notice that 6 out of the 7 ways you can get paid requires you to recruit people?  

It may not impose recruitment but just like most MLM opportunities, you’d still probably opt to recruit to earn bigger commissions and bonuses.  

And also, it’s not for all because as an associate who sells legal services, you should as well apply for state licensing fees as some states require a license through the department of insurance to market legal plans in their state. This means that in those states, you must be licensed to market LegalShield services.

LegalShield provides training and support to their associates with the purpose to help them get started in their new business. 

No doubt, LegalShield is legit and an established company and it’s definitely not a scam. And if you want a prompt legal service whenever you need it, then LegalShield can be a good choice.  

While there are still areas for LegalShield to improve in its products/ services, I could say it is a pretty good service at a good price, they would have not gone this long if they’re not that good right?  

However, as a business opportunity, I could say that it’s not the best for you. Built on an MLM platform, you would still end up recruiting and recruiting. So, if I were you better skip this platform and see the better alternative I have prepared for you.

If you’re looking for a legit opportunity that won’t waste your time, I highly recommend this program. 

Sign up and see the difference it offers when it comes to making money online, such as:

• A proven strategy to work smart and earn a lot (literally)
• Step-by-step guidance
• Best possible support including your own training coach
• Lots of training resources
• And so much more! 

Thank you for reading my LegalShield Review! 

I hope that this has enlightened you and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to drop them down below.