MetLaw gives you easy and low-cost access to a wide variety of personal legal services without deductibles, copays and usage limits when you use a network plan attorney. The plan covers you, your spouse and dependents and provides legal services from network and non-network attorneys.
- MetLaw offers 15,000 network plan attorneys and freedom of choice.
- Plan attorneys have an average of 25 years of experience and must meet stringent criteria to join MetLaw’s network.
- No waiting periods to begin plan coverage. Start using the plan as soon as your coverage begins.
- Wide variety of covered legal matters that pay the attorney fees 100% for services such as wills, estate planning, traffic ticket defense, debt matters, purchasing or selling your home and much more.
- MetLaw, offered by Hyatt Legal Plans, is the largest provider of group legal plans in the United States and has been in the business for more than 30 years.
MetLaw includes full representation without wait periods.
Benefits include: Legal Plan Coverage
In-office Legal Representation
The following benefits are 100% paid-in-full for attorneys’ fees when you use a Network Attorney.
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To locate a Network Attorney in your area, call the toll-free telephone number 1.800.821.6400 or visit: info.legalplans.com and enter access code 8900010.
You can select a local Network Attorney for legal representation – including review and document preparation.
You may also select a Non-Network Attorney and the plan will reimburse you according to a set fee schedule. The legal services available are listed on the MetLaw Legal Plan chart.
Reduced Fee Services
Reduced Fee Services
Personal Injury – Plan Attorneys will handle personal injury matters (where the participant is the plaintiff) at a maximum fee of 25% of the gross award.
Probate – 10% Network Discount
Unlimited Telephone and Office Advice
Unlimited Telephone and Office Advice
If you need legal representation for a legal situation that’s not fully covered by MetLaw, you can still save money by receiving a free phone/ office consultation for any personal legal problem that is not specifically excluded. The Network attorney will explain your rights, point out your options and recommend a course of action. Additionally, the Network attorney will identify any further coverage available through MetLaw.
Attorneys can easily handle certain issues over the phone and in office. You can consult with a Network Attorney over the phone as often as necessary for virtually any personal legal need, including:
- General Legal Advice on virtually any legal matter
- Will Preparation
- Living Will Preparation
- Durable Powers of Attorney Preparation
- Small Claims Assistance
- Follow-up calls and letters
- Specific Document Prepartion
- Document Review
- Debt negotiation
- Tenant issues
- Property protection
- and more
Law Firm e-Panel
Law Firm e-Panel
Send questions directly to attorneys via email at any time and receive answers electronically.
Identity Theft Services
Identity Theft Services
As a member, this service provides you with consultations with a network attorney regarding potential creditor actions resulting from identity theft and provides attorney services as needed for the following;
- Contact creditors.
- Contact Credit bureaus and financial institutions.
- Provides defense services for specific creditor actions over disputed
accounts such as limiting creditor harassment. - Provides representation for any action that arises out of identity theft such as foreclosure, repossession or garnishment, up to and including trial if necessary.
- MetLaw provides online help and information about identity theft and prevention.
Immigration Coverage
Immigration Coverage
To assist in the immigration process, the MetLaw plan offers the below services:
- Telephone/Office consultations for questions regarding the immigration process.
- Preparation of af davits.
- Preparation of powers of attorneys.
- Review of any immigration documents.
- Assistance in preparing the participate for hearings.
Legal Tools and Resources
Legal Tools and Resources
MetLaw provides you with easy online access to legal resources and tools, including:
- An extensive law guide of articles on everyday legal topics ranging from traffic tickets to personal assets.
- E-newsletters – deliver the latest legal plan news right to your inbox.
- Do-it-yourself personal legal documents.
- Attorney Locator for more than 15,000 nationwide attorneys.
- Legal Needs Test and Life Advice.
- Cost Calculator so you can predict a legal issues’ impact on your life.
Elder Law Matters
Elder Law Matters – MetLaw Exclusive
Protecting you and your family is important. MetLaw provides you with Elder Law coverage that covers counseling over the phone or in-office on any personal issues relating to your parents as they affect you:
- Reviewing documents of the parents
- Medicare or Medicaid material review
- Prescription plans
- Leases
- Nursing home agreements
- Powers of Attorney
- Living Wills and Wills
- Also includes preparing deeds involving the parents when the participant is either the grantor or the grantee.
- Preparing promissory notes involving the parents when the participant is the payor or payee
Tools and Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the question to view the answer
What about legal matters that occurred before I became insured under MetLaw?
We encourage participants to use the legal plan to resolve as many legal issues as possible even if they are pre-existing matters. The only pre-existing matters which cannot be covered are those for which the employee retained an attorney prior to the effective date of plan benefits.
Attorneys’ fees are paid-in-full for covered matters when a Network Attorney is used. Coverage is provided for matters in process at the time of termination of employment or plan termination. Coverage is provided anywhere in the United States.
How to Use Legal Benefits
- Legal Advice and Consultation: Insured employees can reach a Network Attorney with no waiting periods by calling 1.800.821.6400 Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST to speak with a live representative and receive assistance.
- Legal Representation Services – Network Attorney: Contact the Network attorney of your choice and identify yourself as an insured M-DCPS employee and MetLaw member. For covered services, MetLaw will pay the Network Attorney directly for all attorneys’ fees in full. You will be responsible for any ling fees, court costs and miscellaneous costs.
- Legal Representation Services – Non-Network Attorney/Indemnity Coverage: You may use any non- Network Attorney and be reimbursed by MetLaw up to schedule maximums by submitting a claim form and your attorney’s billing statement directly to MetLaw. Claim forms can be obtained by calling 1.800.821.6400, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., ET.
How to Select MetLaw Benefits
You may cover yourself and your family by selecting MetLaw Legal Plan under the Employee-Paid FlexPlan Benefits section of the online enrollment.
How does the legal coverage benefit affect taxes?
According to IRS rules, the Legal Plan is not qualified to be included in the FlexPlan as a tax-free benefit. If you select legal coverage, your premium is deducted on an after-tax basis (POST-TAX).
Who is an eligible dependent covered under this plan?
Eligible dependents covered under the Legal Plan include:
- Spouse (until a final decree of divorce has been filed)
- Domestic Partner
- Unmarried natural children, stepchildren, children under your care through court-approved guardianship, and children of a Domestic Partner through the end of the calendar year in which he/she reaches age 26.
- Children may be covered until the end of the calendar year in which the child reaches age 26 if he/she is a full-time or part-time student who receives more than half of his/her nancial support from the eligible employee. Children may also be covered until the end of the calendar year in which he/she reaches age 26 if the child suffers from a mental or physical handicap, is incapable of self-support, and is fully dependent upon the employee for support.
Which insurance company makes the Legal Insurance Plan available to me?
Hyatt Legal Plans, a MetLife Company, underwrites and administers the MetLaw Legal Plan. Hyatt Legal Plans is the market leader in group legal plans.
Exclusions
Plan exclusions include actions between you and your employer, union, fellow employees, insurance carriers, MetLife and affiliates, and Plan Attorneys, or anyone else when prohibited by law; business matters (such as farm and rental properties when the participant is the landlord), investment properties; patents or copyrights, appeals; class actions; filing fees, court costs, and miscellaneous costs; workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation and probate cases; actions between you and your dependents; frivolous or unethical matters; matters for which an attorney-client relationship exists prior to plan eligibility.
MetLaw Legal Plan & Senior Plan
Mon – Fri, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
1-800-821-6400
Access Code: 8900010
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Office of Risk and Benefits Management
1501 N.E. 2nd Avenue, Suite 335
Miami, Florida 33132
Mon - Fri, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET
www.dadeschools.net
Benefits Inquiry:
FBMC Service Center
Mon - Fri,
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET
1-855-MDC-PS4U (1-855-632-7748)
Enrollment Helpline:
1-305-995-2777
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET /
Seven days a week