PrepTest 117

[lcid:3564] Prep Test 117 LSAT — Reading Comp — S1 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 1-7  .        The Canadian Auto Workers' (CAW) Legal  . Services Plan, designed to give active and retired  . Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal Studies


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • New plan introduced; Adoption
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • New plan - CAW Prepaid legal services - Join plan, then pay lower legal fees (or free)
    • Options/Distinction - Plan lawyer (free), cooperating lawyer (free or fee), outside lawyer (fee + balance)
    • 45% eligible signed up; department store adopted plan

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Lawyers vs. Plan Directors
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Lawyers - Bad for profession; drives down overall fees in cities where it operates
    • Directors - Increase professional contact and referrals (3-4 per client that gets good service)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Author - Unlikely the plans will be good for lawyers or clients
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Established lawyers won’t sign up → Marketing for new lawyers → Clients get inexperienced lawyers → Clients less satisfied
    • Downward pressure on fees → Referrals won’t make up difference → Lawyers spend less time per case → Clients less satisfied

Main Point: While the CAW’s prepaid plan members appear happy with the service and the directors argue it’ll be good for lawyers and clients, in reality, the increased use of such plans won’t result in long-term client satisfaction or increased profits for law firms, as its directors argue.

Key Lines?

Lines 1-12 - The new plan is outlined

Lines 14-15 - People like it

Lines 20-22 - Lawyers criticize the plan

Lines 29-33 - Plan directors rebut that criticism

Lines 38-40 - The Author says the plan is bad

Meta-Structure?

Old Approach/New Approach - The entire passage is designed around describing (Paragraph 1), explaining the debate around (Paragraph 2), and reaching a final determination on (Paragraph 3) a new approach to legal services. The old approach to legal services saw each person individually hiring lawyers, the new prepaid plans have people enroll in a service that gives them no- or low-price legal services from lawyers who sign up for the plan. When a passage falls into the Old Approach/New Approach, the Author’s opinion of the new approach generally serves as the main point of the passage. Here, the Author’s opinion is stated in Paragraph 3 - she’s not a fan of them, believing that they won’t result in long-term client satisfaction or increased profits from law firms. In short, no one (except maybe the plan directors who are running the plan) will likely be happy with it over the long term. The main point should reflect that opinion.

Causality - Paragraph 3 sees the Author presenting a few causal chains to explain why she doesn’t believe the prepaid legal plans will result in positive outcomes for either clients or lawyers.

Last Thoughts?

This passage is relatively straight-forward as far as the content and structure is concerned, so let’s work to get through the questions quickly and free up some time for a harder passage later in the section.

Question prompt

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the information about the plan and its members, then find an answer lining up with that information

Answer Anticipation

Paragraph 1 and the opening line of Paragraph 2 talk about the plan members.In Paragraph 1, we learn that these members have a few options for receiving legal services - use a plan lawyer for free, use a cooperating lawyer for free or a small fee, or use an outside lawyer and receive some reimbursement while covering the balance (Lines 5-12). 45% of eligible union members have signed up, but that says more about the overall union membership than the plan membership. And “many” are apparently happy with theservice (Lines 19-20).Let’s find an answer bringing up any of this information.

Answer choices

  1. A
    They can enjoy benefits Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) (Lines 8-12) The passage talks about benefits to members even when hiring “an outside lawyer,” so the benefits to members aren’t limited to the use of the plan’s staff lawyers. This answer is therefore correct.

  2. B
    So far, they generally Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 19-20) First, the passage notes only that “many” plan members are happy with the plan, not that this is “generally” the case. Second, it notes that they’re happy with getting “reduced-cost legal help” - that’s not the same as saying that they think they’re receiving help as good as help they’d get by paying more. Their satisfaction could come from affordable legal help that meets a minimum quality standard.

  3. C
    Most of them consult Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) The passage doesn’t discuss the legal matters on which plan members are consulting lawyers, so this answer is out of scope.

  4. D
    They must pay a Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 8-11) It’s noted that outside “cooperating lawyers” can choose to accept the CAW’s fee as full payment, so there are at least some instances where an additional fee wouldn’t need to be paid to an outside lawyer.

  5. E
    They do not include Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 1-5; Lines 17-18) The Plan is available to active and retired autoworkers and their families. While there is a separate plan offered by a department store that is presumably available to others, the CAW plan is limited to this group, so this answer is contradicted by the passage.

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