Member Services, Inc. history

A few years later, however, the United States government canceled its order and in 1958 DeGroote at the age of 25 was forced to file for bankruptcy.

After he left college in 1961, Stonecipher began teaching English, debate, and drama.

He loved teaching but not its low pay, so in 1966 he quit teaching and began selling life insurance.

Backed by the American Bar Association, the first prepaid plan in modern America began in 1971 in Shreveport, Louisiana, where the General Contractors Association provided limited legal services for union members.

Since this company was created in 1972, it has paid over $140 million to more than 100,000 lawyers who have aided Pre-Paid Legal customers.

In January 1976 Stonecipher incorporated Pre-Paid Legal Services and acquired its predecessor through a stock exchange.

Stonecipher became the chairman, president, and CEO. In 1979 Pre-Paid Legal became a public corporation when its stock was traded on the NASDAQ exchange.

In 1982 sales reached $4 million, then Harland Stonecipher decided to take the advice of an old friend named John Hail that multilevel marketing (MLM), also known as network marketing, was a legitimate and effective way to sell goods and services.

After selling out in 1984 he went on to transform a small chain of video rental stores into the highly successful Blockbuster Video.

In 1985 the company topped $550 million in annual revenues and booked a net profit of $58.7 million.

Meanwhile, Pre-Paid Legal in October 1986 changed from using NASDAQ to the American Stock Exchange.

In spite of this rapid growth, Pre-Paid Legal in 1987 still maintained modest headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma.

Nolan founded Landmark Legal Plans Inc. in Denver and was profiled in Inc. in September 1988, but three months later his firm had almost completely collapsed.

DeGroote's Brief Retirement: 1990

In 1991 Pre-Paid Legal began offering its Law Officers Legal Plan, which provided many benefits in the Family Plan, plus 24-hour emergency telephone access to attorneys and also legal assistance for any administrative and post-termination hearings.

In preparation of Huizenga taking over Republic, DeGroote spun off the hazardous waste portion of the business as well as a 1992 acquisition, Stout Environmental Inc., which had fared poorly and resulted in a one-time charge of $2.6 million.

Pre-Paid Legal in 1993 began seeking contracts with large businesses, defined as those companies with at least 1,000 employees.

In 1995 DeGroote turned over control to a former competitor, now friend, Wayne Huizenga, who had made Waste Management into the world's largest garbage business.

A second innovation to the MLM system was the creation of the regional vice president (RVP) program in July 1996.

By 1997, Pre-Paid Legal had contracts with 35 law firms, ranging in size from 10 to 60 attorneys.

In the fall of 1998 the price of Century stock experienced a major drop when the company came under fire from critics, in particular Massachusetts research firm Off Wall Street, which was known as an active short seller.

In the meantime Century's accounting practices were again called into question, and on December 28, 1999, the company was forced to revise the way it accounted for goodwill, the amount above the book value of an acquisition.

The corporation's lead director, Joseph Plumeri, succeeded DeGroote and Winkler but by September 2000, as Century's stock price fell below $1, he was gone as well.

In October 2002 he resigned, citing health reasons, and was immediately replaced by Gerard, who now served as CEO and chairman of Century.

by Shan · Published · Last modified February 15, 2015

The UMANG mobile app platform, launched in 2017, also allows you to file a claim and check the various EPF accounts you have had with different employers instantly.