Pre-Paid Domain Legal Services

[Fearless]

Wanted to run this by the DNForum attorney members. What do you guys think of a Pre-Paid Domain Defense Legal Plan? I know there is already a bunch of Pre-Paid Legal Plans but then you most likely get stuck with an attorney that knows nothing about domain names. DNForum could administer the plan if necessary. Any ideas, feedback?


Members,

Does this sound like something you would sign up for? Give us your feedback.

Thanks,

Greg

[Duke]

Killer idea Greg. I have used prepaid legal sevices plans for years and they have paid off more than once (particularly in landlord disutes when I had retail stores). However there was one instance where I had a problem with a major music label and my assigned attorney was clueless on music copyright law.

I wound up learning enough of it myself to know that I was on solid ground and fortunately they went away. But I would have felt a lot better with a knowledgeable attorney handling that for me (everyone knows the old saying that a guy who represents himself has a fool for a client). I would definitely be interested in such a plan.

[beatz]

I am interested.

[DryHeat]

Interested.

[GeorgeK]

The devil is in the details, and the price. I might be interested...would have to know more, though.

[HOWARD]

I would be interested in participating in such a plan, but would have to know more on the set-up, how the fees are paid, how the money is held, what are the qualifications of a matter that would be subject to the plan, how are the attorneys qualified, etc. It would take a lot of thought and planning, but it is doable.

I have set up a Domain Defense Fund on another board where participation is voluntary, there is no set amount to contribute, but each $ contributed gets one vote, the members of the Fund vote on whther a particular matter should be handled through the Fund and how much should be spent on fees. They don't have to use me as their attorney, but applications for funds are prescreened by me to determine whether or not there is a chance for success.

[Ari Goldberger]

I would be interested in being a part of such a plan. Some ideas might be:

1- A small annual fixed fee paid on a per-domain name basis which provides certain services (perhaps a scale x$ for up up to 25 domains, x$ for 25-50 names, etc.)

2- A fee paid in advance that provides responses to cease and desist letters, perhaps with a percentage on a domain settlement that results in a sale; discount for a UDRP action.

I'm am very happy to hear any ideas.

[DryHeat]

So, where we go from here & who's going to take a lead on this?

[Fearless]

This is starting to look viable.
I think it's best that the attorney members hash out the finer details. I could see DNForum providing administration. We could assign claims to participating attorneys in a predefined order.
I think the coverage should cover all the way through UDRP.
Unfortunately we don't have member attorneys in every state or country so court action would be beyond the scope of this.

[Ari Goldberger]

Not clear whether this should be a group plan or not.

I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of some of the members of the panel as to what services they'd be looking for.

Perhaps the attorneys that would be interested in participating in such an arrangement should discuss some of the possible alternatives and come back with a proposal.

[jberryhill]

"I could see DNForum providing administration. "

Issues relating to the provision of insurance services, lawyer referral services, and fee-splitting, are complex and vary from state-to-state. Things like insurance and pre-paid legal plans (which is simply a specific form of insurance) work by distribution of risk and the fact that most pre-paid legal plans are limited to relatively mundane cut-and-dried types of matters. Drafting simple wills, commercial transactions under the UCC, presiding over real estate settlements, and dealing with insurance-defense charts for slip-and-fall cases, etc. is fairly routine stuff with fairly predictable investments of time and effort.

But when a guy with a loaded gun in his pocket walks into the office and wants to know whether he can have a pre-paid murder defense plan, you gotta wonder...

Normal business insurance can include trademark infringement coverage, which should always be on the short list of client intake questions.

[DryHeat]

I'd suggest the scope of pre-paid legal coverage be limited to following areas:

1. General advice on TM & other IP related domain matters

2. Advice &/or Response to purchase inquiries for covered domains (or upto _?_ times/year)

3. Response to C&D type letters for covered domains (or upto _?_ times/year)

4. UDRP and similar proceedings for covered domains (or upto _?_ times/year)


Other folks should present their ideas so that we can reach a consesus.

[GeorgeK]

A group plan might not be best, given that I wouldn't want to be lumped into a plan full of folks that have names that are high risk -- they'd be paying too little, and would be subsidized by people like me.

Perhaps a "risk assessment" could be done for a portfolio by people offering a plan, and then they would set an appropriate rate?

[Fearless]

Ah come on George, I need to be subsidized.

[DryHeat]

GeorgeK, I agree completely with what you're saying. Thats why I introduced the concept of "covered domains (or upto _?_ times/year)" meaning that either folks have a spcific number of domains covered (further there may be exclusion criteria for the type of domains which obviously very high risk &/or carry high potential for serious TM issues) OR they get to use a particular service upto a certain max./year...something like that.

[HOWARD]

You could institute a secondary board for paid members only to avail themselves of legal advice. The attorney members could get paid on a per post or job basis depending upon the nature of the advice or legal action to be defended. The attorneys would have to agree upon a uniform fee structure and payment through Paypal accounts.

Membership on this board would be based upon a fee structure based upon number of domains, but there would have to be a subjective review of those domains to determine risk factor. DNForum would hold the funds and distribute to participating attorneys.

These are just top-of-the-head thoughts to provide some structure.