1989
Well-Known Member
You are not locked into any 1 attorney. Any attorney can be used who fills out the teamster legal paperwork.
Teamster Legal Services
- Thread starter oneanddone
- Start date
BigUnionGuy
Got the T-Shirt
I assume, there is paperwork absolving the Local of liability for "referring"
a member to a specific attorney ?
There can't be a chance.... the Local pays the attorney fee's ?
Coldworld
60 months and counting
There is a book of preferred lawyers.....you sure about being able to use ANY atty????
1989
Well-Known Member
I call the 1-800 # in California. They give me a list of local attorneys that specialize/deal in the type of legal representation I need. There is no liability to any local. I can choose weather or not to use their attorney.
1989
Well-Known Member
If there is not an adequate attorney on their list. You can use another attorney. That attorney has to accept the terms of teamster legal. I’ve used a different attorney twice. It is my understanding that any attorney that accepts the terms of teamster legal can get on their list.
104Feeder
Phoenix Feeder
The Teamster Legal Plan is one of the best benefits for Union membership and should be used as an organizing tool at every opportunity. Use it once for something like a divorce or DUI and you will get back more in benefit that you've paid in dues in most cases.
There are Panel attorneys, which are individual attorneys or firms that have submitted an extensive application and agree to maintain certain insurance to protect our members. These are the ones you are referred to when calling the Plan. As 1989 stated, any attorney can represent a member on an case by case basis as long as they submit an application and agree to the Plan terms and conditions. Many times the Plan may pay more than their usual fee. You should not have the attorney perform any work on your case before they are approved by the Plan.
As always you should do your own vetting process of any attorney, using your State Bar and local reviews, and not consider an attorney being a Panel attorney as an endorsement.
If you have a collaborative divorce (relatively uncontested) with your spouse you can save quite a bit of money by using the Panel attorney. The Plan does not permit your spouse to use the benefit for divorce anymore, before it was the first one who called could use the benefit. Divorce is the worst thing you can go through as a Teamster but always shoot for a collaborative divorce if possible.
If you are in a smaller sized town you can strategically meet with attorneys to create a 'conflict' so that your spouse cannot use that attorney. A few hundred dollars spent on consultations could prove invaluable. If in a larger area you should seek out the "Top 10" and conflict them out. In a particularly contested divorce you can use a panel attorney for the grunt work then fire them and seek out a top divorce attorney (that you should have previously interviewed) and use them for the trial part thereby saving you significant money. I did this and spend 1/3 what my spouse did on attorney's fees.
On another note if you are a gun owner you should seek out the best criminal defense attorneys in your area and consider putting one on retainer. Even in a relatively pro-gun State you may find the law is not on your side when you need to use a firearm. Being educated and proactive could mean the difference between a jail cell and freedom.
There are Panel attorneys, which are individual attorneys or firms that have submitted an extensive application and agree to maintain certain insurance to protect our members. These are the ones you are referred to when calling the Plan. As 1989 stated, any attorney can represent a member on an case by case basis as long as they submit an application and agree to the Plan terms and conditions. Many times the Plan may pay more than their usual fee. You should not have the attorney perform any work on your case before they are approved by the Plan.
As always you should do your own vetting process of any attorney, using your State Bar and local reviews, and not consider an attorney being a Panel attorney as an endorsement.
If you have a collaborative divorce (relatively uncontested) with your spouse you can save quite a bit of money by using the Panel attorney. The Plan does not permit your spouse to use the benefit for divorce anymore, before it was the first one who called could use the benefit. Divorce is the worst thing you can go through as a Teamster but always shoot for a collaborative divorce if possible.
If you are in a smaller sized town you can strategically meet with attorneys to create a 'conflict' so that your spouse cannot use that attorney. A few hundred dollars spent on consultations could prove invaluable. If in a larger area you should seek out the "Top 10" and conflict them out. In a particularly contested divorce you can use a panel attorney for the grunt work then fire them and seek out a top divorce attorney (that you should have previously interviewed) and use them for the trial part thereby saving you significant money. I did this and spend 1/3 what my spouse did on attorney's fees.
On another note if you are a gun owner you should seek out the best criminal defense attorneys in your area and consider putting one on retainer. Even in a relatively pro-gun State you may find the law is not on your side when you need to use a firearm. Being educated and proactive could mean the difference between a jail cell and freedom.
