Posted: 6/18/2011 3:56:09 AM EDT
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i was at a gun show a few weeks ago and i talked to them about their legal defense plan. i didnt sign up but i got their brochure and went home and pondered it. i gave the information for my friend who is a lawyer (non criminal though) to see if there was something "too good to be true" about this, since it is $11 a month?
the attorney i know looked at it and found a way for the law firm administering the plan to exit without further defending you. there is some clause in there he said that states that they can drop you from the plan and prorate the last month's coverage back to you, i.e. give you your $11 back from the last month they covered you. he said something that stated in general that if you chose not to cooperate with them they can exercise this right under the T&C of the contract. i'd also guess they'd do this for an act where you were clearly not using a firearm in self-defense. say you decided to go on a triple homicide and killed your entire family but it was pretty evident you were not acting in self defense, then you exercised your legal defense plan and demanded to pay them $11 a month until you went to trial (and demanded a trial), i guess they would exercise this right to drop you and give you a $11 refund. just wondering if anyone had read this. after my friend, a licensed attorney, reviewed the T&C on their webpage, he said that this is one way for them to drop you. that was enough for me to decide that at $11 a month i was truly getting what i paid for. any thoughts? |
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My question to you would be would you really want a lawyer who you pay $11/month representing you in a murder trial? I don't think I would.
I personally am not a criminal lawyer and have no idea how this thing really works, but I will really check into it and look into this attorney's real world experience. Another question I might ask is "Has any one ever been defended by you under this policy?" |
| I was at a gun show today and spoke with the guy running this scam. Trying to offer "insurance" basically for legal services for individuals that have their CHL's. Considering the percentage of people with CHL's who actually use them this guy and his company would just be collecting checks. Sure they may defend you, but it doesn't mean that you'll win. Seems like a lose lose situation. |
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Quoted:
Sure they may defend you, but it doesn't mean that you'll win. That actually applies for any lawyer you hire. There are no guarantees when it comes to any court cases. As for this service, it's much like paying any type of insurance company. They collect lots of money from lots of customers knowing that very few of their clients will actually have to need them to do anything. Sure, as pointed out earlier what do you really expect from paying $11 a month or whatever the fee is, but any of their actual expenses are offset by the other money they are brining in from customers who never need them. Just like an insurance company. Personally I think it would be better to know a good local lawyer who is familiar with the local court system and prosecutors. |
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they were very adamant to me that this was not an "insurance." i bet because if they were selling it as insurance they'd have to be licensed by the TDI (TX Department of Insurance). that probably costs money and makes them subject to more govt regulation.
Mr. Bass, thanks for your input. that makes two attorneys that told me basically the same thing. while i dont think i'd get quality representation for $11 a month i was wondering how the law office could wiggle their way out of representation at trial which would be a sure financial loser. i am pretty certain the legal representation would be very minimal at that cost. the girl who tried to sign me up said that the law office would definitely defend me up to and including trial. i didn't believe her so i figured i'd read the T&C which is the true binding contract. turns out she was more of a salesperson and definitely not an attorney. |
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The get out clause you speak about is not hidden in the smallprint, I'm not sure why you had to get a lawyer to read it, as its in plain English, not hidden away, but, at least you did some due dilligence and checked into it. ANY lawyer can choose not to defend you, its their choice. The two guys who run Texas Law Shield have actually defended people in CHL cases, so they have experience doing this. Whats the worst that would happen? they'd say no to going to trial, unless you pay us the standard rate. At which point it'd even out with a standard lawyer anyway because you'd have to pay your own lawyer. Who may or may not have CHL defense experience. The main reason I see for paying Texas Law shield is getting that immediate defense at the point after you've used your gun. You ring 911, report a shooting. Immediately get off the phone and ring TX Law Shield. You now have excellent support and will not say anything stupid, and more than likely, your lawyer will arrive before the police, if you live in a metro area. You then have, for $11 a month, from the get go, legal support around the first, and most important stages of the shooting. If it goes to trial, you know you didn't say or do anything stupid whenever you were around the cops, to me, that's worth more than $11 a month because your trial can hinge upon something you said in the heat of the moment when the first responders turned up that seemed innocent at the time. If they cover you during trial, or if they don't, you are already better off than you would have been. Not only that, if they did refuse to cover someone during trial, don't you think it'd be all over the forums and we'd all cancel our subscriptions? It wouldn't be a clever move for them. |
| The 'Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network' also offers a similar service for a smaller per year cost. I definitely know of one case where they successfully defended a member in a trial (in AZ) despite a belligerent local DA who retried the case due to a hung jury each time (but lost each time). |
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Much easier to just have a local lawyer's number in your cell phone.
I have several, one in TX that is a buddy of mine. One in FL that is a guy that is an active shooter and gives his number out to any shooter he meets. Both have extensive exp on the subject... Both cost me a round of drinks every once in a while. Some will say that 11/mth is nothing... and they would be right, but people don't normally make money by being stupid. These lawyers know that the chance you are going to use your gun in self defense is very low. So for them it is an easy yes. Notice you never see divorce lawyers offering a service like this, a MUCH greater chance you will get divorced than shoot in self defense. |
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So they reserve the Right to withdraw as you legal rep in the event you as the defendant do not "cooperate"? Why... would any defendant not cooperate with their legal counsel? $11.00 a month is cheap.... Anyone care to guess how much it costs to retain an attorney in a criminal case? |
| As others have mentioned, this isn't a scam. Their risk of a client actually using a firearm is so small they are able to offset the few guys they do have to defend with the rest of the buyers. I've heard good things about the times they do actually have to represent someone. I ended up going with the NRA program. It's more a little more expensive but I just have more faith in the NRA. |