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Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. & Subsidiaries

Type	Public (NYSE: PPD)
Founded	1972
Headquarters	Ada, Oklahoma
Key people	Harland Stonecipher (founder, CEO, chairman)
Industry	legal insurance
Products	Legal services, Identity theft restoration
Revenue	$461M
Employees	813 Full Time
Website	http://www.prepaidlegal.com

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. NYSE: PPD is a corporation that offers specialized insurance and legal service products in the United States and Canada. The firm was founded on August 8, 1972, it made its initial public offering in 1984. Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. is a member of the S&P 600 SmallCap index and the S&P 1500 Super Comp index.

Contents 1 Company description 2 Subsidiaries 3 History 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

[edit] Company description

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. develops, underwrites and markets pre-paid legal services plans through a network of more than 50 independent law firms across the U.S. and Canada. The Company also markets an identity theft monitoring and restoration services. Currently most of the company's products are sold through the network marketing system (also known as multi-level marketing). Products are also sold as an employee benefit through payroll deduction.

[edit] Subsidiaries

Today, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. has its headquarters on in Ada, Oklahoma, in the same town that the Founder, Harland C. Stonecipher was born. The company owns several subsidiaries. Pre-Paid Legal Casualty, Inc. operates in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin. There are 3 subsidiaries that serve individual states: Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. of Florida, Pre-Paid Legal Services of Tennessee, Inc., and Legal Service Plans of Virginia, Inc. PPL Legal Care of Canada Corporation operates in the Country of Canada.

[edit] History

Pre-Paid Legal Services began on July 11, 1969 when CEO and founder Harland C. Stonecipher was involved in a vehicle accident which left him with legal bills. He began researching the industry of European legal expense plans. On August 8, 1972, Harland Stonecipher created Pre-Paid Legal’s predecessor, The Sportsman’s Motor Club, offering legal expense reimbursement services as a motor service club. Pre-Paid Legal started selling plans through network marketing in 1983. Pre-Paid Legal went public on the NASDAQ National Market System in 1984, and two years later moved to the American Stock Exchange.

In 1997, after a FTC investigation, Pre-Paid Legal admitted misleading customers and suspended sales of living trusts.^[1] On May 13, 1999, Pre-Paid Legal moved to the New York Stock Exchange, and within four months was listed as the 33rd fastest growing company on the NYSE, according to Equities Magazine.

In 2000, Pre-Paid Legal made the Forbes list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America for the fifth year in a row. In 2001, the Wyoming Attorney General classified Pre-Paid Legal as a "multi-level marketing" organization and won refunds for multiple customers who were defrauded by misleading earnings claims.^[2][3] Pre-Paid Legal has faced ongoing troubles in Missouri. After the company settled complaints in 2001, a number of similar suits arose. The company won in a jury trial against two plaintiffs,^[4] but later settled with more than 400 others, including one customer who was awarded $9.9 million. The company, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of which Pre-Paid Legal CEO Harland Stonecipher is a director,^[5] have described the lawsuits against the company as "frivolous" and "abusive".^[6]

Pre-Paid Legal reported to the SEC that under 25% of its sales representatives sold more than one insurance plan in 2005, but avoids reporting such information to prospective sales representatives.^[1] In the same article, from the New York Times the Times reported that in 2005 a Mississippi jury awarded a Pre-Paid customer $9.9 million over claims of deceptive marketing.

In 2007, Pre-Paid Legal made the Forbes list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America again. The company currently provides services in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five provinces in Canada, with over 1.7 million members. Currently most plans are sold through the network marketing system (also known as multi-level marketing). It is also sold as an employee benefit through payroll deduction.

In October 2009, Tulsa World reported that Pre-Paid Legal have been subpoenaed by the SEC for various documents including those pertaining to a stock repurchase program that Pre-Paid has had since April 1999. The SEC reported that thus far it is a "fact finding" mission.^[7]

On November 19, 2009, Pre-Paid Legal announced that it received a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission. The proposed draft complaint alleged that Pre-Paid's "ADRS program and related materials violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act regarding asserted misleading representations, express or implied."^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Smith, Melissa. "Pre-Paid Weathers Guilty Verdict". thestreet.com.
• MacMillan, Hoke. "Attorney General’s Office Nets Refunds From Multi-Level Marketer". attorneygeneral.state.wy.us.
• Rozett, Lisa. https://wsecure.prepaidlegal.com/pdf/usachamber.pdf . US Chamber of Commerce.
• Forbes. "Forbes 2007 Best 200 Companies in America". Forbes.com.
• Forbes. "Forbes 2008 Best 200 Companies in America". Forbes.com.
• Pre-Paid Legal. "Pre-Paid Legal Advisory Council". PrepaidLegal.com.
• Corsi, Jerome. "Prepaid Legal: From A Novelty to An Accepted Insurance Marketing Opportunity". Broker World.
• http://www.shareholder.com/ppd/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=205437
• http://wserver0.prepaidlegal.com/newCorp2/about_us/advisory_council.html

[edit] External links

• Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. — Official site
• CBC News Report on PPL