Porter's Five Forces Analysis of LegalShield (2015)
This paper applies Porter's five forces framework to LegalShield (formerly Pre-Paid Legal Services of Ada, Oklahoma), a pioneer in the pre-paid legal insurance industry founded in 1969. Beginning with a company overview — including its rebranding, membership plans, and affiliate attorney network — the analysis examines buyer power, supplier dynamics, the threat of substitution, barriers to entry, and industry rivalry within the evolving online legal services market. Drawing on industry data and competitive trends, the paper concludes with a strategic recommendation for LegalShield to expand into additional national markets that share comparable legal systems, leveraging the company's proven scalable business model and established quality standards.
- Introduction: Scope, background, and analytical method
- Overview of LegalShield: Company history, products, and rebranding
- Porter's Five Forces Framework: Theoretical basis for competitive analysis
- Power of Buyers and Suppliers: Client power shifts and talent supply dynamics
- Threat of Substitution and Barriers to Entry: Online legal services growth and market access
- Industry Rivalry: Competitive intensity and projected market growth
- Recommendation: International expansion strategy for LegalShield
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What makes this paper effective
- It applies a well-known strategic framework (Porter's five forces) systematically to a specific company, moving through each force in a logical sequence before synthesizing findings into an actionable recommendation.
- Industry-level data — revenue projections, annualized growth rates, and market size figures — give each force section concrete empirical grounding rather than relying solely on theoretical claims.
- The company overview section provides sufficient context (founding history, rebranding rationale, product plans) so the subsequent competitive analysis is immediately meaningful to any reader unfamiliar with LegalShield.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates framework-driven analysis: each Porter force is introduced with a brief theoretical statement drawn from primary source (Porter, 2008) and then grounded in industry-specific evidence. This technique shows how a general management model can be operationalized for a particular competitive context, moving from abstract principle to concrete business insight within each section.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a clear four-part structure: (1) a brief introduction establishing scope and method; (2) a company overview covering history, products, and rebranding; (3) the five forces analysis, with each force occupying its own section; and (4) a single-focus recommendation for international market expansion. The progression is logical and the recommendation flows directly from the analytical findings.
Today, more than 100 million Americans have enrolled in some type of pre-paid legal insurance plan that provides a range of benefits, including coverage for issues that typically confront individuals, families, and small businesses (Jackson, 2007). One company that was in the vanguard of offering pre-paid legal insurance is LegalShield, formerly named Pre-Paid Legal Services of Ada, Oklahoma (About us, 2015). Founded in 1969 by Harland Stonecipher, this company has grown to become an industry leader in the pre-paid legal insurance sector. To determine how the company achieved this level of success and to examine the competitive environment in which it operates, this paper reviews the relevant literature to provide an overview of LegalShield using Porter's five forces framework, followed by a strategic recommendation based on the analysis.
Following a motor vehicle collision that hospitalized him in 1969, Harland Stonecipher became acutely aware of the need for improved access to the legal system for ordinary individuals. According to LegalShield's website, "After depleting his life savings defending himself against something he didn't do, Stonecipher was determined to make legal protection accessible to everyone, everywhere, no matter how traumatic or trivial the situation, so that no one would ever be blindsided again" (About us, 2015, para. 2). Based on this mission, the founder went on to establish Pre-Paid Legal Services — later renamed and rebranded LegalShield (hereinafter alternatively "the company") — in Ada, Oklahoma, with the goal of creating a scalable business plan that could integrate technological innovations to deliver legal services in new ways (About us, 2015).
Today, LegalShield has more than 4 million members in 49 states and four Canadian provinces using its network of affiliated legal practitioners with a broad array of specialty areas as well as general legal expertise. In order to qualify as a LegalShield affiliate attorney, lawyers must (a) be in good standing with their state bar association, (b) have a service philosophy parallel to the high standards of LegalShield, and (c) understand and appreciate the everyday legal needs that members face (About us, 2015). The company has expanded its operations into a 170,000-square-foot corporate office on 80 acres with more than 650 employees at its headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma (About us, 2015).
Notwithstanding this sustained growth in a rapidly changing competitive environment, the company's leadership insists that its core vision remains the same today as it was in 1969: "Our leaders have decades of experience and our goal remains the same — to create a world where everyone can access legal protection and everyone can afford it" (About us, 2015, para. 5). One of the main benefits of LegalShield's membership arrangements is the ability of members to consult attorneys for virtually any type of legal issue, regardless of its apparent triviality, and this ability extends to major legal matters as well. The company's promotional literature notes that, "Because our attorneys are all paid in advance, they provide the same level of service for trivial or traumatic legal situations" (About us, 2015, para. 5).
In late 2011, Pre-Paid Legal Services announced that it was changing its name to "LegalShield" and implementing a new marketing plan as part of an overall rebranding initiative intended to reflect how the company had responded to changes in its competitive environment and its acquisition by MidOcean Partners on June 30, 2011 (Carter, 2011). At that time, LegalShield representatives also reported that the rebranding initiative would include new corporate literature, training programs, and web-based outreach efforts (Carter, 2011). This initiative had been given careful consideration, given the company's existing 40-year-old brand that enjoyed widespread recognition.
Notwithstanding this long-term investment in brand equity, LegalShield's chief executive officer, Rip Mason, emphasized that, "We believe this company has untapped potential for future growth and the [LegalShield] brand reflects the expanded vision we have for the company moving forward" (cited in Carter, 2011, p. 3). Company representatives also cited strong operational and administrative systems and the scalable operating model and legal network as the basis for this optimistic projection (Carter, 2011). The company additionally reported that it would focus on developing new market segments, including the expanding Hispanic community and small business services sectors (Carter, 2011).
The company offers three basic pre-paid legal services plans — personal, identity theft, and small business — summarized below.
Personal legal plans. These plans begin at $20 a month, and members' spouses are included at this price.
Identity theft plans. Benefits of this membership plan include credit report monitoring, personal credit score analysis, complete identity restoration service, and safeguard protection for minors.
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