Plans are divided into different categories based upon clientele, grouping, and open or closed status. Some of the largest plans are union-based. Negotiated in massive collective bargaining contracts, prepaid legal services become an employee benefit like medical insurance or eyeglasses. The money deducted from each paycheck is put into a fund that finances the establishment of union employee law firms or independent firms that service plan members nationwide. Examples are the United Auto Workers and the New York State Teachers.
Some private plans work in a similar fashion.
A company signs up the plan for its employees, deducts a small sum every month from a paycheck, which, in turn, pays local counsel to service the plan members. Naturally, not every employee has a legal need every month but the ones who do make a claim for benefits pursuant to the plan. For example, Hyatt Legal Services of Cleveland, Ohio, participates with Pepsi, John Deere, and Pitney Bowes. Midwest Legal Services of Des Moines, Iowa, services Kraft General Foods. Other plans mass market.