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CHERRY HILL - As an attorney in private practice in the early 1980s, Leonard Feltoon discovered something that a whole lot of ordinary middle-class people already knew.
Those ordinary middle-class people are none too eager to fork over the $100 an hour or more that most lawyers charge.
When he sat down to think about it, the reluctance seemed pretty reasonable. "Clients could not really afford legal service hourly rates even at that point, and it's only more expensive now," he said. "I felt there had to be a better way.
With $1,000 of his own cash, Feltoon set out to create that "better way" and, in 1987, he opened the doors of Countrywide PrePaid Legal Services, a voluntary benefit plan that makes basic legal services available to members for free or at discounted rates.
Apparently, Feltoon's entrepreneurial instinct was on target: Countrywide has been among the fastest-growing businesses in the region for several years running. Its revenue has swelled from $353,985 in 2000 to $629,758 last year.
The plan taps into a network of some 2,700 participating lawyers, to whom members can turn for free assistance with such basic legal matters as the writing of wills, contract reviews, small claims actions and the like. Members also can get a discount on more complex matters such as bankruptcy filings or divorce proceedings.
It costs employers nothing to offer the benefit, while employees pay $11 to $14 a month to participate, depending on the size of the group.
The plan...