LegalShield, the world’s leading provider of affordable legal and privacy protection plans, said today that tens of thousands of consumers flooded its phone lines in March with employment and estate-related queries, marking some of the highest intake volume seen in the company’s nearly 50 years of operations. LegalShield provides legal protection to more than 4.4 million individuals today.
Employment-related questions were up nearly 20% in March over the previous month, the highest intake volume ever recorded at the company. Generation X were the most inquisitive, representing nearly 37% of all callers. The topics of the most significant discussion included queries on “differences between layoff vs. furloughs,” “what unemployment benefits members are eligible for,” “remote working rights” and “COVID-19 testing requirements for employment.” The majority of inquiries were from California, Texas, Florida and Georgia.
Estate planning-related questions were likewise up in March, nearly 5% higher than the previous month and 12% higher than March 2019. Baby Boomers and Generation X drove nearly 75% of the queries on topics including Will creation, health directives and powers of attorney. The majority of calls were generated from California, Texas and Florida, with states such as New York, Washington, Georgia, Pennsylvania and others seeing a demonstrable pickup.
Even with the record number of callers last month, LegalShield believes the volume was tamped down given awareness of the unfolding coronavirus pandemic did not become fully known to most until mid-month. Responding to this increasing demand for legal advice, LegalShield launched a Coronavirus Resource Center, expanded the free capabilities of its mobile app by making relevant legal forms accessible and updated FAQs available through their AI Chat Bot Erin.
LegalShield’s CEO Jeff Bell stated: “We believe access to quality legal advice is critical to consumers and small businesses during this pandemic. Our provider law firms are delivering vital guidance and counseling to Americans that are in need of legal assistance. Understanding how the CARES Act impacts your business or having a will, health directive and power of attorney designated can provide peace of mind during a time when many things are out of one’s control. We make that possible by connecting our members with experienced attorneys in their local area through our mobile app.”
As a LegalShield member, consumers and small businesses owners can speak with a lawyer about any legal issue in as little as 4 hours from moment of inquiry. LegalShield’s legal plans provide access to qualified law firms and their lawyers with an average of 22 years of experience, with dedicated law firms in 50 states and all provinces and territories in Canada. Additionally, through the LegalShield mobile app (available on iOS and Android) there are several free services to help aid consumers and small businesses.
About LegalShield and IDShield
A trailblazer in the democratization of affordable access to legal protection, LegalShield is one of North America’s largest providers of online legal subscription plans covering more than 4.4 million people. Its IDShield identity theft solution for individuals and families has more than one million members. LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. In addition, over 40,000 companies offer LegalShield and IDShield plans to their employees as a voluntary benefit. Both legal and identity theft plans start for less than $25 per month. For more information about LegalShield, visit: https://www.legalshield.com/ or for more information about IDShield, visit: https://www.idshield.com/.
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