Your LegalShield plan provides that you receive legal benefits through telephone consultations. If during the telephone consultations with the Provider Attorney, it is determined that traditional representation is necessary or is in your best interests, she or he will recommend that you hire (“retain”) an attorney to provide traditional legal representation. You would need traditional representation, for example, to create a limited liability company, or to sue someone for breach of contract.
LegalShield and Davis Miles maintain a network of Referral Attorneys who provide quality traditional legal services at discounted rates for LegalShield members. The Provider Attorney will refer you to a network attorney from either the Davis Miles law firm or from an outside law firm.
The traditional attorney (the Referral Attorney) will take your case forward, and the telephone consultation attorney will no longer be involved. Once your matter is referred, it is important to communicate only with the Referral Attorney about that matter.
No one at the Davis Miles Provider Law Firm can advise you further if your matter has been sent to a Referral Attorney. (It goes against ethical rules governing attorney conduct to have two attorneys giving you separate advice.) That can delay the referral process or cause other problems. If you do find it necessary to call Davis Miles regarding the referred matter, it is important to inform the Customer Service Representative (CSR) that you have been referred to a Referral Attorney, and then limit your questions to issues regarding benefits or administrative issues. If your questions involve legal advice, it would be best to save your questions for the Referral Attorney. However, if you feel the questions would cause you to no longer need the services of the Referral Attorney or additional delays will not be a problem, then it may be advisable to call and talk to the Davis Miles Provider Attorney again. It is important to inform the Provider Attorney that you have been referred to another attorney so he or she can determine if your question needs to be directed to that other attorney.
It takes at least three business days to process your referral. Once processed, our staff will contact you with the name and phone number of your Referral Attorney. Legal matters are always Time Sensitive, so you should contact the Referral Attorney immediately.
If you are referred to an attorney in order to file a law suit, you will be asked to pay the following to the Referral Attorney when you go meet with her or him:
- Initial consultation fee in the range of $150 to $450.
- Cost advance deposit to cover court costs, filing fees, travel expenses, expert witness fees, etc. This is likely to be a few hundred dollars, if needed.
- Fee advance deposit (sometimes called a retainer). This will likely be thousands of dollars. Some complex cases may require substantially more.
For other types of legal matters, there may be flat fee arrangements or contingent fee arrangements which differ from the above.
You will also be asked by the Referral Attorney to sign a retainer agreement. That protects both you and the attorney. It should describe not only costs and fees, but should explain the specific services you will be provided.
If the Referral Attorney cannot accept your case or is not retained after the initial consultation, please call in immediately for a re-referral. We will not re-refer merely on the basis of price.