The Future of the GLSA: Charting a New Course – Part I
This is the first of a weekly interview series centered around the future of the GLSA and our upcoming Tampa conference. Today we chat with GLSA President Matt Hahne.
What is your view of the current and future mission of the GLSA?
Matt: I believe the current view of the mission of GLSA is twofold. First, to build an organization designed to be a think tank for innovative legal services with the goal of providing access to justice, and second marketing and encouraging the growth of legal plans in our country.
We can always look to improve, but the idea of creative and critical thinking will only come with more players/organizations affiliated with GLSA to share ideas. We need to improve on opening up the doors of GLSA to any and all organization that are in the business of expanding the access to justice in this country. The Umbrella should be huge!
What do Legal Plans need to elevate their presence in the US and Canada?
Matt: Being a plan attorney, I think Legal Plans need to continue to work hand-in-hand with their attorney network to market legal plans. Consumers do not know the benefits of legal plans and are simply uninformed. Network attorneys see how legal plans help people every day and these stories need to be shared nationwide in the hopes of getting more consumers signed up for legal plans.
What is the single biggest barrier to access to justice and how can GLSA address this?
Matt: Everyone has their own opinion regarding this issue. I believe the single biggest barrier is attorney compensation. GLSA can certainly help address this. We can continue to promote the growth of legal plans in our country. Legal plans provide attorney services at a discount rate while providing a streamline of clientele for the firm.
Why should attorneys join a legal plan?
Matt: I often tell attorneys that are interested in joining a legal plan, if you have all the business you want at your firm and you don’t need any more clients, then legal plans are not for you. However, if you want to reach a base of potential clients that you otherwise arguably would not acquire while generating consistent income, signing up for a legal plan is a no-brainer!
If you are interested in participating in charting GLSA’s new course and learning more about how legal and subscription-based plans can help your practice, attend the Tampa Bay conference taking place on May 9th to 11th — more information available here. Registration is open now and there are limited Early Bird tickets here.