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| March 9, 2004
Re: PBA Non-Job Related Legal Services We have undertaken a review of the PBA non-job related Legal Service Plan in order to determine whether these services can be better delivered to the membership. As a result of that review, we have concluded that members would be better served by altering the manner in which these services are delivered. Specifically, we will make changes to the plan to, among other things, allow members the freedom to choose their own attorney to provide legal services for house closings. For the past 25 years, non-job related legal benefits have been provided by one law firm chosen by the P.B.A. Given the volume of legal work generated for the one firm, the PBA was able to realize favorable rates from the law firm providing the services. Unfortunately, during much of that time, members complained about the quality of legal services provided and the level of attention given to their matters. This led many of our members to look outside the PBA legal plan when securing an attorney to close the purchase or sale of real-estate – the single most popular component of non-job related legal benefits. This resulted in many of our members paying out-of-pocket the entire cost of fees for a real estate closing. Given these patterns of usage, we believe that a program which allowed members to choose their own attorney and to have the PBA reimburse the attorney a fixed sum would best serve our membership and assure that members receive quality legal services. We fully expect that members who historically have not used the program will do so because they will have the option of choosing their own attorney. This would result in an increased number of members participating in our legal services plan. Therefore, commencing April 2, 2004, whenever you decide to sell or purchase a primary residence, up to one purchase and one sale per year, the PBA will cover your legal expenses to a maximum of $600 per purchase or sale. For example, if you decide to sell your home and simultaneously purchase a new home, the PBA will pay your attorney up to $600 for each closing*, in this instance a total of $1200. Simply have your attorney submit your fully executed closing statement(s) along with the claim form, directly to the PBA Funds Office, Real Estate Transactions, at 40 Fulton Street, 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10038, and we will forward payment to your attorney upon receipt. Of the other benefits provided under the PBA’s non-job related legal program, only the preparation of simple wills was used with any degree of frequency. The other services were used by literally a handful of our 23,000 members, making the cost dramatically out of proportion to the benefits provided to the entire membership. As a result, we have decided to continue the will component of the program in-house and to discontinue those components that were not used with any frequency by the membership. The preparation of simple wills and related documents will be picked up by our General Counsel’s office under the supervision of David Nicholson, Assistant General Counsel. All those wishing to have a simple will prepared should contact the Fund’s Office at (212) 349-7560. Should you wish to discuss this new legal service procedure and reimbursement methodology, or have any questions whatsoever, please call our Funds Office directly at the above number. Please note that the attorneys provided through the Berkman Henoch law firm can continue to be used until April 2, 2004.
*The residence must be located in one of the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam and Orange County.
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