ADA, Okla. – (PRNewswire) Real estate-related issues was the leading legal service request among members (customers) of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. during 2009 followed by 2) consumer finance, 3) family law, 4) collections and 5) estate planning.

"The PPD legal service request list offers a unique perspective on the legal issues that Americans and Canadians face on a daily basis," said Pre-Paid Legal's Founder and CEO Harland C. Stonecipher. "Because these members have a Pre-Paid Legal plan, they have access to affordable legal service to help them manage issues such as foreclosure, credit issues, collections and other life events," he said.

Of the total 2009 requests for legal services, the top five requests account for approximately 45 percent or approximately 1.1 million of the total requests. By category, the top five legal service requests include:

Real Estate, Landlord/Tenant Issues and Foreclosure - Approximately 358,000 requests for legal services that include residential and commercial real estate transactions, landlord and tenant issues and legal counsel related to foreclosure and short sales

Consumer Finance - Approximately 195,000 requests for legal services related to retail transactions for warranties, guarantees and other contracts

Family Law - Approximately 193,000 requests for legal services related to divorce, child support, child custody and child visitation

Collections - Approximately 162,000 requests for legal assistance to support members against other parties and to defend members from third-party debt collectors

Estate Planning - Approximately 160,000 requests for legal services for preparation of wills and other counsel related to final estates

Forward-Looking Statements -- Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, regarding our future plans and objectives and expected operating results, dividends and share repurchases and statements of the assumptions underlying such statements, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain assumptions that may not be correct. They are subject to risks and uncertainties incident to our business that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the reports and statements filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including (among others) those listed in our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, and include the risks that our membership persistency or renewal rates may decline, that we may not be able to continue to grow our memberships and earnings, that we are dependent on the continued active participation of our principal executive officer, that pending or future litigation may have a material adverse effect on us if resolved unfavorably to us, that we may have compromises of our information security, that consumer purchases of discretionary items may be impacted by a downturn in the economy, that we could be adversely affected by regulatory developments, that competition could adversely affect us, that we are substantially dependent on our marketing force, that our stock price may be affected by short sellers, that we have been unable to increase our employee group membership sales, that our active premium in force is not indicative of future revenue as a result of changes in active memberships from cancellations and additional membership sales and that we have repurchased more than half of our outstanding shares. Please refer to pages 18 through 20 of our 2008 Form 10-K/A and pages 7 and 8 of our September 30, 2009 Form 10-Q for a more complete description of these risks. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward looking statements in this release.