Prepaid legal services are arrangements by which a person pays for legal services potentially needed in the future. Businesses sometimes create prepaid legal service plans as a benefit to their employees. Such an employee benefit plan might be defined and regulated under provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
In the case of In re 1115 Legal Service Care, the New Jersey Supreme Court noted that the practice of law by staff-operated prepaid legal service plans could serve the needs of many people, who neither qualify for legal aid nor have ready access to traditional law firm services.
[Last updated in December of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]