Harvard Risk Management Corporation Mark H. Riches, CEO Pyramid Scheme, Prepaid Legal/Legal Shield Products and Platinum Executive Director Dallas, Texas

Found via public resources. Note that you must pay them for any materials you use, agree to pay them for what is "needed". You agree that the advanced commission is to be used only for business and not your personal use. Basically, that the bulk of your income is only to be put back in the business, not for yourself. So you are working merely to put money back into their company, not to use any of it to pay bills, feed your family, etc.  Also, note the loan you must repay on demand, when memberships drop and google how frequently that happen.

Note that they can enforce at will, and no matter what they tell you verbally or in writing, what this document says is what counts. If you have an issue, you have signed away your right to class action (what kind of company needs that clause) and will have to go to Dallas and be subject to arbitration there.

If you quit or get fired, you are not entitled to any commission. That means if you sell $1,000 worth on Monday and are fired/quit on Tuesday, they don't have to pay you a dime on that sale, or any previous sales you haven't been paid for. Much less the much touted renewal income. They can also at will change how much you will earn without notice. Read this carefully before signing.  


Harvard Risk Management Corporation Independent Agent Agreement
Policies & Procedures
1.  An Agent is an independent contractor and does not have a franchise, distributorship or other exclusive right to sell arrangement with HRMC. HRMC reserves the right to accept or reject any Agent
Agreement in its sole discretion. An Agent is not an employee for federal tax purposes or any other purposes. An Agent is neither an agent, partner, nor involved in a joint venture with HRMC. The Agent
will be responsible for all costs or liabilities incurred by the Agent in the sale and/or distribution of all HRMC products/services. The Agent shall not enter into any agreements or make any purchases in the
name of, or on behalf of, HRMC.
2.  An Agent at his/her own expense (if any) shall be responsible for the filing of any and all reports required by local law or public authority with respect to the sale of any products/services marketed by
HRMC and shall abide by any and all federal, state, county, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances with respect to all sales. The Agent is responsible for providing HRMC his/her Social
Security number or Federal Tax Identification number for tax reporting purposes.
3.  An Agent does not have the authority to waive, change, or modify a HRMC product or service in any way. Furthermore, no modification of any service is binding upon HRMC unless authorized in
writing at the corporate offices of HRMC by an authorized officer of the company.
4. Advertising Policy:  (a) Only advertising and promotional material that is pre-printed, pre-approved, and properly licensed by HRMC may be purchased or used in the promotion or sale of HRMC
products/services. An Agent agrees to pay for all supplies and marketing materials needed. Supplies should be obtained directly from HRMC If an Agent wishes to return supplies and obtain a refund,
he/she must return the supplies in usable condition and request a refund within 15 days of the purchase date. If a Agent wishes to exchange a supply item for another, he/she must return the item in usable
condition and request an exchange within 30 days of the purchase date. Obsolete material will not be
eligible for refund or exchange.
unsolicited telemarketing, and unsolicited advertisements to fax machines and/or any other method
prohibited by applicable federal or state law. In addition, an Agent initiating the transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail (spam), agrees to comply with all HRMC policies regarding
such advertising, as well as to applicable state and federal laws governing such transmissions.
(b) An Agent may not contact prospects by using auto dialers,
5.
HRMC is authorized to do business, except in those states where an insurance or other license or appointment is required unless the Agent meets those requirements. However, an Agent may recruit
other Agents in any state in which HRMC is authorized to do business, provided the prospective Agent is properly licensed in that State if so required for the sale of products/services.
There are no territory exclusives. Any Agent may sell products/services in any state in which
6.  The Agent and the Agent’s spouse, or similar relationship, will normally be regarded as one Agent. However, a spouse or similar relationship may complete a separate Agent Agreement (and submit the
necessary fee), provided the Agreement is sponsored by the same person or entity. Persons must be 18 years of age or older to execute an Agent Agreement.
7.  In the event of the death of a Agent who is a party to this agreement solely in his/her individual name, all commissions due the Agent will be paid according to his/her last will and testament as
admitted to probate or, if there is no will or other instrument providing otherwise, the rights of the Agent under this agreement shall be deemed to be owned (i) if the Agent has a spouse, as joint tenants
with rights of survivorship with the spouse; or (ii) if the Agent does not have a spouse, as may be provided by the applicable law of descent and distribution. If the Agent's spouse succeeds to the
business and has been actively participating in the business at the time of death, the spouse will have the option to continue in the same role as the deceased Agent.
8.  An Agent Agreement with HRMC may be terminated as follows:
notice by the Agent; (b) By HRMC with thirty (30) days written notice to the Agent if the level of
persistency of the Agent’s
acceptable; (c) Immediately by HRMC for actions or statements by a Agent which HRMC, in its sole discretion, determines to be contrary to its best interests, including, without limitation, if an Agent:
violates the terms of the Agent Agreement or these Policies and Procedures as in effect from time to time, misrepresents the company’s name, violates any other HRMC policy, solicits memberships by
using the name of the Provider Attorney firm, makes
contrary to HRMC literature, reveals any HRMC trade secrets, including without limitation names of Agents, members or corporate accounts.
(a) At any time upon written
business consistently remains below a level considered by HRMC to be
product/service claims or earnings claims
9.  An Agent who terminates his/her Agent Agreement or who is terminated by HRMC will, effective on the date of termination, no longer be entitled to any bonuses or commissions, including
renewals, advanced or earned, personal or organization.
10.  Advance commissions for sales produced by the Agent or in the Agent’s organization shall be paid only when sales of HRMC products/services have occurred, and shall be earned only as fees on HRMC
products/services are received by HRMC. HRMC reserves the right to change commission advance rates, adjust advances for membership cancellations, pay commissions on an as-earned basis or to place
commissions on hold in its sole discretion. Any sums advanced to the Agent shall create a debit balance which will be a loan to the Agent from HRMC.  This balance will normally be repaid by
withholding earned commissions, including renewals, but the Agent is ultimately liable for repayment upon demand by HRMC. A Agent may request commissions be paid on less than a 100% advance
basis. Advance commissions are made in connection with the business of selling HRMC products or services and the Agent agrees that they are not for the Agent’s personal, family or household purposes.
11. HRMC reserves the right at any time to no longer accept new membership sales or Agent recruitments from any Agent, and to adjust or change any marketing plan and incentive program and at
any time without prior notice. HRMC may add, change or terminate any services offered by HRMC to
any or all Agents, at any time, in
communications, newsletters, or otherwise.
whole or in part, including but not limited to supplies,
12.  No HRMC products or services may be sold or offered in combination with any other product or service without, prior written approval from an authorized officer of HRMC.
13.  The failure of HRMC to insist upon strict compliance with any of the Policies and Procedures herein shall not be deemed to be a continuous waiver in the event of any future breach or
waiver of the
Policies and Procedures.
and Procedures and any other marketing materials of HRMC, these Policies and Procedures shall control.
In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Policies
14.  In the event that a provision of the Agent Agreement or these Policies and Procedures is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it
enforceable, and the balance of the Agreement and Policies and Procedures will remain in full force and effect.
15.  The Agent Agreement and Policies and Procedures will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. The Agent Agreement and Policies and
Procedures
amendment may be made, either written or oral, without the signature of an authorized Home
Office officer of HRMC, provided that these Policies and Procedures may be amended from time to time by HRMC by publication in a means reasonably available to Agents generally, including by
publication in periodic communications to Agents or on the HRMC website. All disputes and claims relating to HRMC the Agent Agreement, these Policies and Procedures and any other HRMC policies,
products and services, the rights and obligations of an Agent and HRMC or any other claims or causes of action between the Agent or HRMC or any of its officers, directors, employees or affiliates, whether
in tort or contract, shall be settled totally and finally by arbitration in Dallas, Texas in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, including the optional rules
for emergency measures of protection. If any Agent files a claim or counterclaim against HRMC or any of its officers, directors, employees or affiliates in any such arbitration, an Agent shall do so only on an
individual basis and not with any other Agent or as a part of a class action. Judgment on any award may be entered in the Dallas County District Court or in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The Agent consents to the jurisdiction and venue of such arbitration and
such courts.
constitute the entire
agreement between the Agent and
HRMC

I am a Harvard Risk Management associate. 

Before becoming involved with HRMC, I thoroughly researched, evaluated and investigated the company and found it to be an extremely legitimate and ethical company, providing valuable and much needed services to the public.  The HRMC training program is outstanding and on-going, providing associates with all the tools necessary to be successful.   My experience with the company has proved this out many times over.  Based on my research, I believe your original report has several flaws the most egregious of which, are addressed below:

1.  Pyramids are illegal.  Harvard Risk Management Corporation (HRMC) has been in business since 1993.  It would not be possible for an 18 year old company to be a pyramid and remain in business.  In no way is HRMC a pyramid scheme.  To imply such in your negative report makes one suspect the credibility of that report.  HRMC does not use an MLM business model.  It uses an insurance company model to market employee benefit programs to companies of all sizes. 

2.  HRMC primarily focuses its marketing efforts on providing voluntary employee benefits to businesses of all sizes.  Associates who work on behalf of HRMC make group presentations to company employees to educate them about the dangers of ID Theft and how to protect themselves from becoming a victim.  We also introduce them to the Legal Shield and  ID Theft Shield protection plans.  Legal Shield provides individuals and families with legal representation that would otherwise be financially out of reach. 

3.  HRMC is a third party broker for several business products, two of which are Legal Shield and ID Theft Shield.  Legal Shield (formerly known as Pre-Paid Legal) is a 40 year old company.  Companies don't stay successfully in business for 40 years if they are “rip-offs”.   Legal Shield has been ranked as one of Forbes' 200 Best Small Companies in America for six of the last ten years.  There are currently more than 1.5 million members of Legal Shield in addition to over 50,000 corporate clients.

4.  Legal Shield was recently purchased by Mid Ocean Partners for $650 million dollars.  Companies like Mid Ocean Partners (look them up) do not invest that kind of money in companies engaged in any unethical or illegal activities.  They invest that kind of money because they know the business is sound, proven and providing a much needed service to its members.

5.  Legal Shield has a national network of some of the top law firms in the country to represent it's more than 1.5 million members in North America.  Prestigious law firms such as these do not engage in illegal practices such as pyramids nor do they affiliate themselves with illegitimate companies.

6.  The company behind the ID Theft Shield product is Kroll Fraud Solutions (another 40 year old company).  Kroll is the world's leading risk consulting company.  It was founded by Jules Kroll in 1972 and has its headquarters in New York.
 
7.  Kroll is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange with annual revenues in excess of one billion dollars.  Kroll operates in 65 cities and 33 countries with over 3800 employees.  Kroll maintains a superior expertise in monitoring credit and restoring the lives of identity theft victims through the ID Theft Shield product now being marketed by HRMC.

8.  As for the remainder of your negative report, it is also factually incorrect and contains numerous errors.  But as the author of that report says, "Don't take my word for it", consider the facts listed above, do your own research (as I did), and draw your own conclusions.  My objective here is to challenge the Original Report which is fraught with misinformation and misleading allegations. 

A LOOK AT THE PREPAID LEGAL (NOW LEGAL SHIELD) OPPORTUNITY. LIKE IT'S PRE-PAID LEGAL PREDECESSOR, LEGALSHIELD MARKETS PREPAID LEGAL PLANS. A MUST READ FOR PROSPECTIVE ASSOCIATES WHO AREN'T SURE ABOUT PRE-PAID LEGAL/LEGALSHIELD OR MLM IN GENERAL

PrePaid Legal (now LegalShield aka Legal Shield) Info

LegalShield/Legal Shield (formerly Pre-Paid Legal) What’s been traditionally known as Pre-Paid Legal is now known as LegalShield. According to a LegalShield press release, the name change is part of a branding initiative. Mid Ocean partners (who acquired Pre-Paid Legal and took it private) believes there is untapped room for future growth.

Pros of switching to LegalShield Bad Branding is gone: The phrase Pre-Paid Legal has become associated with lawsuits and accusations of an illegal pyramid scheme. Justified or not, they have left the name Pre-Paid Legal with a negative impression. The name LegalShield is fresh and perhaps a better choice.

Less Transparency: Being privately owned, LegalShield will not require the same level of transparency it once did. No longer will the company be mired in SEC investigations over what many consider to be questionable (though probably common) accounting practices.

Cons of switching to LegalShield NYSE status gone: Being privately owned, LegalShield will not be able to boast an NYSE listing. This was one of the strengths Pre-Paid Legal boasted.

Short-Selling scapegoats gone: Being owned by a private equity firm, LegalShield doesn’t have to worry about short-sellers trying to drive down its stock price. Of course, what this also means is that LegalShield won’t have short-sellers as a scapegoat.

LegalShield moving forward It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Will LegalShield’s recruiting practices remain similar to Pre-Paid Legal's? Will its marketing be as heavily dependent on its associates or will it find less controversial ways of marketing its product? Will the product change (I imagine the Legal Shield won't be going away). Will its retention rates be any better? Of course, being private means we likely won’t be privy to things like membership retention rates.

Harvard is a 3rd Party Broker offering 2 legitimate products for sale owned by independent companies ---  LegalShield and Kroll ID Theft.

Harvard does not offer a job. It offers you an opportunity to become an Independent Agent affiliated with Harvard and be in business for yourself.

There is NO COST to become a Harvard Agent, get Trained and Certified to sell their products. Legal Shield requires Agent membership in order to sell their product and receive a commission for each membership sold.

Want to become your own boss and represent Carvel or McDonald's or Krispy Creme, etc? Get ready to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars or more for a franchise.

Sales is not for everybody. Working as an Independent Agent is not for everybody. Commission only income earned is not for everybody. Being in business for yourself is not for everybody.

Some people like being hired drones, handed a weekly or bi-weekly check by an employer and being told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, etc by overbearing bosses.

The complainers who have posted here should not discourage those who
have sales ability, want to sell a legitimate product and be in business for themselves.

If the opportunity isn't for you, acknowledge that fact and move on with your life.

Don't ruin the opportunity for others.

It's interesting how the pro- HRMC people have accused the rebuttals of not being fact based, but have offered no actual explanation for the points offered and backed up, such as contract terms, etc. 

It's also interesting how they imply that anyone who sees it for what it is simply isn't meant for sales or doesn't have what it takes. 

Add that to the fact that the one touting the greatness of the company did a PR spin on the requirement to buy a policy as an investment rather than a "you are the customer" situation. 

If it's such a great opportunity, why decry the facts or accuse others of trying to "ruin" someone else's opportunity by putting them out there. If it's really legitimate, the facts should support your case, not be a threat you feel you need to defend. 

The warning posts encourage others to really look into the facts for themselves and then make up their own mind while the HRMC people seem to be afraid people will. That's a warning in itself. Proceed with caution. 

Outsider,

Every statement I have written in a previous posting is factual, accurate and verifiable.  Call Harvard Risk Management Corporate and speak to customer relations.  They will verify my statements on cost and obligation.

My experience speaking to one of their recruiters was completely the opposite of any of the experiences of the complainers who have previously posted here.  The statements I've made regarding Harvard policies were told to me upfront by their recruiter.

I've chosen not to join because I don't want to sell, don't want to work for commission only, etc.

The products Harvard markets, not their own, are legit.  The need for these products is real.

Do you have to work hard to find prospects to sell to?  --- YES. 

Is this a pyramid or MLM scheme where the primary goal is to build under you NOT to sell the products -- NO!

As for the complainers who find the Harvard Contract unpalatable -- DON'T SIGN ONE!  DON'T JOIN UP!  YOU HAVE A CHOICE!

Seems the complainers do not understand the difference between working for a company as an employee and working for a company as an Independent Contractor

I suspect the complainers and possibly you have an agenda against Harvard.

As a psychologist, I understand it is hard to think that there really are good things out there. This happens to be one of them.

I am not necessarily concerned with my patients and id theft, although it definitely is a concern, but I am concerned with legal issues. Everything as simple as a will to a court case, the cost is minimal. Personally speaking, I could afford more than the average person in a legal suit... but I paid a minimum amout for a maximum defense in a child support issue.

I am not sure what is meant by 'fact based' terms.... As for me, all is well.

Additionally, if this implies that someone is not meant for sales, then fine. As is, some are not meant for teaching, law enforcement, psychology, etc... but it doesn't mean that is a scam. It is a personal choice.

Finally, legal advice as an investment??? Oh, yes. Sign me up ten times..... you never know. I'd rather have that than car insurance.

Why knock something that doesn't affect you? Some people NEED these benefits. Let them be. If they are scammed, then that is their issue... although, I do not think that is the case... my experience has shown it to be a great resource.  Good luck to you. I feel that for you to have posted, you must be in a negative situation. I wish you the best.