Beyond Structured Settlements

Settlement Planning Market - 1

Following three 2012 settlement planning conferences, what have we learned, and what do we still need to know, before settlement planning can be recognized and analyzed as a business and professional market?

The settlement planning conferences provided:

• Definitions for Settlement Planning - Joseph Tombs, Director of the Registered Settlement Planner (RSP) certification program, defined settlement planning as "a profession helping recipients of settlement proceeds use those proceeds to achieve post-loss goals and transition successfully to post-settlement financial life. Settlement planners represent a blend of several professionals: part tax lawyer, trial lawyer, special needs lawyer, financial planner, annuity specialist, social worker, and medical case worker."
• Descriptions of an Emergent Profession - Several conference speakers described settlement planning as a larger and more complex successor business and profession for structured settlements. For example, Jack Meligan stated: "SSP and its members have been promoting the practice of Settlement Planning as a more comprehensive solution for the financial issues facing personal injury victims and their families, and the profession of Settlement Planning as the next evolutionary step for members of the financial and legal communities that serve these injured Americans."
• Product Introductions and Descriptions - In addition to structured settlement annuities, conference speakers discussed multiple financial and insurance products in the context of settlement planning including: settlement trusts; blended structures; alternative asset management options; market linked CDs; long term care insurance; life insurance; and reinsurance.
• Government Benefit Updates - Integrating financial and insurance products with available government benefits represents one of the most important settlement planning priorities and requires effective interaction among multiple settlement planning participants. The conferences highlighted settlement planning roles for special needs attorneys as well as financial and insurance professionals. In addition, government benefit developments related to settlement planning were discussed including new requirements for liability Medicare Set-Asides (MSAs) and special needs pooled trusts as well as the Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act.
• Tax Law Updates and Improvements - In addition to integrating tort settlement proceeds with government benefits, settlement planning requires careful tax planning and specialized document drafting. The SSP conference featured Robert Wood and Jeremy Babener, who provided tax law tips and updates for settlement planners, as well as David Higgins, who proposed a potential tax law alternative to expand the use of structured settlement annuities in settlement planning.
• Business Standards and Practices Discussions - The SSP's "Standards of Professional Conduct for Settlement Planners" (SSP Standards) represents a significant accomplishment and valuable industry resource.  Professor Carl Pierce, who helped review and draft the SSP Standards, continued his analysis of related settlement planning issues as part of the Risk Settlement Planning Practicum. Karen Meyers, Director NSSTA's Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) program, led a discussion about product suitability during the SSP Annual Meeting.

Unanswered Questions

Despite continuing educational progress, however, certain questions about the settlement planning market still need to be prioritized and addressed before settlement planning becomes a recognized business and profession. Among the most fundamental and important:

• What types of settlements comprise the settlement planning market?
• How large is the settlement planning market?
• Is the settlement planning market increasing or decreasing?
• What informational resources exist to help answer these questions?

Towers Watson Updates

Beginning with the last question, S2KM recommends the Towers Watson updates on "U.S. Tort Cost Trends" as a starting point for discussing the settlement planning market. Since 1985, Towers Watson (and its antecedent Towers Perrin) have published 15 such updates with the most recent 2011 update analyzing U.S. tort costs from 2010. Each study:

• Consists of three components: 1) losses paid to third parties; 2) defense costs; and 3) administrative expenses.
• Calculates tort costs resulting from five insured plus uninsured business lines: 1) commercial multi-peril; 2) medical malpractice; 3) product liability; 4) other liability; and 5) commercial auto;
• Excludes: 1) no-fault auto insurance; 2) property coverages; 3) workers compensation; 4) certain extraordinary (one time) costs - example: tobacco litigation.

Highlights from Towers Watson's "2011 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends"

• The tort costs in 2010 ($264.6 billion) were the highest in U.S. history and represent a 5.1% increase from $251.8 billion in 2009. Towers Watson estimates the 2010 U.S. tort system cost approximately $857 per person, versus $820 per person in 2009.
• Towers Watson attributes the increase to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Absent the costs from this event, Towers Watson estimates 2010 tort costs would have decreased 2.4% from 2009.
• Since 1984, tort costs as a ratio of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have ranged from a low of 1.70% to a high of 2.30% with relatively rapid increases in the ratio during the mid-1980s and early 2000s offset by intermittent and multi-year declines in the ratio.
• Since 1950, even adjusting for inflation, increases in U.S. tort costs have far exceeded U.S. population growth. However, inflation-adjusted tort costs per capita were 16% lower in 2010 than in the peak year of 2004.
• The weak U.S. economy has had a notable impact on commercial auto insurance claims. 2010 tort costs were the lowest since 2000 and 19% lower than 2004.
• Although medical malpractice costs have increased at an average annual rate of 9.7%, versus 7.5% for all other tort costs, since 1975, growth in medical malpractice costs from 2005 to 2010 averaged only 0.3% per year.
• Looking ahead, Towers Watson:
  • Anticipates employee practices litigation to be significant in the future despite the U.S. Supreme Court's 2011 ruling in favor of Wal-Mart in the sexual discrimination and civil rights class action case Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Betty Dukes et al.
  • Identifies "fracking" (a natural gas drilling process that extracts natural gas from shale by using water and chemicals which could result in contaminated drinking water) as a new area of litigation where defense costs are beginning to mount.

Up until its 2002 update of "U.S. Tort Cost Trends", Towers Watson also translated annual tort costs into the following cost categories (with 2001 percentages): 1) administrative costs - 21%; 2) defense costs - 14%; 3) plaintiff attorneys -19%; 4) economic loss - 22%; and 5) non-economic loss - 24%.

Note: Towers Watson discontinued this latter portion of its analysis in 2002, according to Russ Sutter, a Tillinghast principal and actuary who directs the Towers Watson study, "primarily because we lack reliable information from plaintiff attorneys". These percentages therefore represent Towers Watson's "best estimate" in 2002.

S2KM assumptions: lacking alternative estimates of tort cost payment categories and percentages, Towers Watson's "best estimate" in 2002 for 2001 U.S. tort costs continues to represent the most reliable annual analysis of U.S. tort dollars paid to claimants and their attorneys.

Applying Towers Watson's percentages for 2001 to the results of Towers Watson's analysis of 2010 U.S. tort costs ($264.6 billion total), produces the following assumptive results: 1) administrative costs - $55.6 billion; 2) defense costs - $37.0 billion; 3) plaintiff attorneys - $50.3 billion; 4) economic loss - $58.2 billion; and 5) non-economic loss - $63.5 billion.

Utilizing both Towers Watson's 2011 update of its "U.S. Tort Cost Trends" plus S2KM's assumptions based upon Towers Watson's additional 2002 "best estimate" for 2001 produces the following assumptive results for 2010:

• Economic loss of $58.2 billion plus non-economic loss of $63.5 billion (both amounts presumably paid to claimants) equals $121.7 billion of tort-related dollars paid to claimants.
• $121.7 billion plus $50.3 billion paid to plaintiff attorneys equals $172 billion of tort-related dollars paid to plaintiffs and their attorneys.

S2KM will reference and utilize these 2010 annual assumptive "tort cost results" in subsequent blog posts while continuing to discuss the settlement planning market. For additional S2KM reporting about settlement planning, see the structured settlement wiki.

S2P2J Release 51

Publisher Law Journal Press anticipates an April 2012 distribution date for hardcopy supplements for Release 51 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J). Online S2P2J will also be updated April 2012 to include Release 51 materials. First published in 1986, S2P2J is co-authored and updated semi-annually by Daniel W. Hindert, Joseph J. Dehner and Patrick J. Hindert. Both the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) utilize S2P2J as an educational resource for their certification programs.

Release 51 Highlights

Release 51 for "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" features a comprehensive Executive Life update including expanded and updated coverage for the Executive Life of New York (ELNY) liquidation proceedings now in progress. In related reporting, Release 51 also:

• Expands and updates prior reporting for life insurance insolvency procedures and state guaranty association laws;
• Offers advice to plaintiff attorneys about how to address the risk of non-payment by annuity providers; and
• Summarizes recent case developments impacting Aurora, the successor company to Executive Life Insurance Company of California (ELIC),

Release 51 also updates Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) developments and conditional Medicare payment requirements. Contributing author Peter H. Wayne IV provides current analysis and advice about Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) arrangements in liability cases discussing new and related case law, new CMS pronouncements and new CMS field office guidance with practice tips for structured settlement and settlement planning consultants, attorneys and claim supervisors.

Release 51 expands existing coverage of structured settlement business standards and practices including analysis of the following legislation impacting settlement planners:

• The NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation;
• The NAIC Annuity Disclosure Model Regulation;
• Dodd-Frank's impact on fiduciary and suitability standards; and
• The Uniform Prudent Investor Act.

Other topics addressed in Release 51:

• Structured settlement metrics for defendants and liability insurers.
• The Treasury's final regulations for IRC section 104(a)(2) incorporating amendments resulting from the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996.
• The new IRS Lawsuits, Awards and Settlements Audit Techniques Guide.

"Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" is now available in both hardcopy and online versions. For summaries of prior Release Highlights, see the structured settlement wiki.

Product Suitability Standards - 1

To what professional "product suitability standards", if any, should structured settlement "consultants" be held responsible when they recommend structured settlement annuities for claimants in the context of personal injury settlements? And where should they look for guidance?

Should it matter:

• Whether the structured settlement consultant is working on behalf of the defendant or the plaintiff?
• Whether the structured settlement consultant is also a:
  • Registered Settlement Planner (RSP); or a,
  • Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC); or a,
  • Registered Representative (RR); or a,
  • Certified Financial Planner (CFP); or a,
  • Registered Investment Adviser (RIA)?
• Whether the proposed structured settlement annuity will be paid into a trust set up for the claimant as opposed to the claimant directly?

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) is the largest national structured settlement professional association in the United States.  NSSTA has adopted a "Statement of Ethics and Professional Responsibility" (Code of Ethics) to provide "guiding principles" to its members and member organizations.  The Preamble to NSSTA's Code of Ethics provides:

"Implicit in the acceptance of this Statement is an obligation to act in a professionally responsible and ethical manner when providing structured settlement services."

Although Principle VI directs NSSTA members to:

"…comply with all material federal and state laws and regulations applicable to the structured settlement services that are provided",

NSSTA's Code of Ethics does not directly address product suitability standards. Nor does NSSTA's Code of Ethics include any penalties or enforcement procedures for member violations.

By comparison, the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP), whose members also sell structured settlement annuities, has adopted the "Standards of Professional Conduct For Settlement Planners" (Standards of Conduct).  Related to product suitability, Rule 5 (Conflict of Interest and Loyalty) of SSP's Standards of Conduct states in part:

"A settlement planner shall make and implement only recommendations that are appropriate for the client and consistent with the client’s objectives" (emphasis added).

In the event of a conflict between SSP's Standards of Conduct and any:

"laws, court rules, licensure requirements or other standards imposed on any regulated profession such as law, accounting, financial planning, securities trading or insurance", the SSP's members "should abide by the laws or professional standards imposed on the members discipline (emphasis added) ..."

Rule 5 also requires SSP members to obtain their client's "informed consent" which their Standards of Conduct define as:

"…agreement by a person to a proposed course of conduct after the settlement planner has communicated adequate information and explanation about the material risks of and reasonably available alternatives to the proposed course of conduct."

The Preamble to SSP's Standards of Conduct addresses enforcement, stating in part:

"Compliance with these Rules depends upon voluntary adherence and, secondarily, upon reinforcement by peer and public opinion.....Although it is not intended that a violation of these Rules will, in itself, subject a settlement planner to civil liability to a person injured by such a violation, it is expected that these rules may be used as evidence of the conduct expected of reasonable settlement planners."

What does "appropriate" mean under the SSP Standards of Conduct? And what "laws or professional standards" could impact whether a structured settlement is appropriate for a particular injury victim?

One potential source for answers is the "Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation" (Suitability Regulation) promulgated and most recently revised in 2010 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and subsequently enacted by several states.  The purpose of the NAIC Suitability Regulation is:

“…to require insurers to establish a system to supervise recommendations and to set forth standards and procedures for recommendations to consumers that result in transactions involving annuity products so that the insurance needs and financial objectives of consumers at the time of the transaction are appropriately addressed."  However, the NAIC Suitability Regulation adds:  "Nothing herein shall be construed to create or imply a private cause of action for a violation of this regulation."

Section 6A of the NAIC Suitability Regulation provides in part:

"In recommending to a consumer the purchase of an annuity or the exchange of an annuity that results in another insurance transaction or series of insurance transactions, the insurance producer, or the insurer where no producer is involved, shall have reasonable grounds for believing that the recommendation is suitable for the consumer on the basis of the facts disclosed by the consumer as to his or her investments or other insurance products and as to his or her financial situation and needs, including the consumer's suitability information ..."

The NAIC Suitability Regulation defines "suitability information" to include: age; annual income; financial situation and needs, including financial resources used for the funding of the annuity; financial experience; financial objectives; intended use of the annuity; financial time horizon; existing assets, including investment and life insurance holdings; liquidity needs; liquid net worth; risk tolerance; and tax status; prescribes duties and penalties for insurers and insurance producers.

The NAIC Suitability Regulation applies "to any recommendation to purchase, exchange or replace an annuity made to a consumer by an insurance producer, or an insurer where no producer is involved, that results in the purchase, exchange or replacement recommended."

Significantly for structured settlements, however, Section 4 of the NAIC Suitability Regulation exempts "settlements of or assumptions of liabilities associated with personal injury litigation or any dispute or claim resolution process".

Does this exemption encompass structured settlements?

By way of explanation, the legislative history of the NAIC Suitability Regulation specifically references "structured settlements" and adds:

"A regulator pointed out that this type of contract did not generally result from a recommendation by an insurer or producer but agreed that it did not hurt to have the exemption there."

If the NAIC Suitability Regulation exempts structured settlements, why is it relevant to structured settlement consultants and/or settlement planners?

• First, some structured settlement consultants and most settlement planners also sell annuity products (example SPIAs) that are covered by the NAIC Suitability Regulation.
• Second, some states now require all licensed insurance agents to complete a one-time annuity suitability training program as a condition for selling any annuity products. NSSTA already offers qualifying training programs for its members.

• Third, some structured settlement consultants may also be licensed to sell financial securities in addition to annuity products and may therefore be held to a higher product suitability standard by their broker-dealer.

• Fourth, some structured settlement consultants and/or annuity providers may proactively decide to adopt product suitability standards regardless of legal requirements. See, for example, the SSP "appropriate" standard highlighted above. Also note: under Section 8 of the NAIC Suitability Regulation, insurers are responsible for compliance and subject to penalties for non-compliance.
• Fifth, many structured settlement competitors (examples: financial planners and settlement trustees) are held to higher, more specific product suitability standards. To improve their sales success, structured settlement consultants should understand their competitors' product suitability standards including "fiduciary" and "best interest" standards in addition to, and in contrast with, the NAIC annuity suitability standard.

In subsequent blog posts, S2KM will identify and discuss product suitability legislation and regulations, in addition to the NAIC Suitability Regulation, that could impact structured settlement consultants and settlement planners.

For additional S2KM blog posts concerning structured settlement business standards and practices, see the structured settlement wiki and Section 6.02 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J).

SSP and NSSTA 2011 Annual Meetings - 4

One of the notable features of the 2011 educational conferences sponsored by the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) and the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) was how relatively few speakers focused on traditional structured settlement issues.

Of those who did, some offered external perspectives on structured settlements (attorneys, judges, financial planners, unions). In addition, NSSTA's Legal Committee provided an update on structured settlement legal issues.

Most of the other SSP and NSSTA 2011 educational speakers addressed structured settlements in the context of either:

• Peripheral topics such as: strength of life companies; state guaranty associations; Executive Life of New York (ELNY); internet marketing; certification programs; and the sale of structured settlement payment rights; or
• Settlement planning topics such as: Medicare set-asides (MSAs); special needs trusts (SNTs); 468B qualified settlement funds (QSFs); taxation (income and estate) of damages; lien resolution; non-qualified products; and allocation of medical expenses.

Two SSP presentations were also noteworthy for providing both a general understanding of settlement planning and the role of structured settlements as a core component of settlement planning:

• Kevin Urbatsch and Michele Fuller - "Working with a Special Needs Attorney";
• Jack Meligan - "Dissecting a Settlement Plan".

Urbatsch and Fuller, special needs attorneys and members of the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP), addressed a variety of settlement planning topics:

• What is a settlement plan?
• What types of injury victims require settlement planning?
• What professionals should comprise a settlement planning team?
• What special needs issues should a settlement plan address?
• In addition to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, what government programs should a settlement plan consider?
• What benefits do these various government programs provide?
• Why are damage allocations important for settlement planning?
• Who is, and who is not, qualified to make damage allocations?
• What are the disadvantages of, and alternatives to, special needs trusts (SNTs)?
• How does health care reform impact settlement planning, Medicaid and SNTs?
• Why are 468B Qualified Settlement Funds (QSFs) important for settlement planning?

Meligan's discussion focused on a case-specific settlement plan. Meligan's recommended planning considerations included: "better quality of life"; new care facility; medications and therapy; estate planning; whether an SNT is appropriate; and whether a Medicare set-aside (MSA) is necessary. His proposed settlement plan recommended specific products and product and service providers for:

• A structured settlement payable into a SNT.
• An MSA funded in part with a structured settlement.
• Resolution of Medicaid and Medicare liens.
• A Treasury bill money market account.
• A "laddered" certificate of deposit portfolio.
• Investment in silver coins to address inflation.
• A will plus consideration of estate taxes.
• Prescription medications.
• Family evaluation to assist with life style changes.

S2KM comments about structured settlements and settlement planning:

• The future of structured settlements depends upon whether, how, when and by whom structured settlements are integrated into settlement planning.
• Settlement planning requires and deserves greater educational attention - by SSP and NSSTA as well as by special needs attorney associations.
• The SSP discussions led by Urbatsch, Fuller and Meligan provided a good introduction to many settlement planning issues.
• If NSSTA continues to study settlement planning (or settlement consulting), it might be valuable to review and compare:
  • SSP's "Standards of Professional Conduct for Settlement Planners" with NSSTA's "Code of Ethics";
  • SSP's "Registered Settlement Planner" (RSP) certification program with NSSTA's "Certified Structured Settlement Consultant" (CSSC) program;
  • SSP's 2011 educational agenda with NSSTA's 2011 educational agenda.
• New settlement planning standards need to be identified and established. For example: definitions and vocabulary; knowledge requirements; professional planning team composition; roles and responsibilities; individual and integrated work product; product recommendation criteria; licensing and certification; business practices including compensation disclosure, conflicts of interest and informed consent; documentation; and financing products and mechanisms.
• QSFs and structured settlements can improve settlement planning and therefore should be considered in every complex personal injury case.

S2KM comments about Meligan's sample settlement plan:

• At least until someone else presents a personal injury settlement plan featuring structured settlements in an educational forum, Meligan's plan represents the industry standard.
• It would be valuable to study and compare settlement plans developed by different professionals (trustees, special needs attorneys, and financial planners) for the same case example.
• Every settlement plan recommending a structured settlement should:
  • Justify why structured settlements are appropriate (product suitability) and more appropriate than comparable alternatives products - for example: SPIAs and indexed annuities.
  • Include some tax analysis to determine whether "tax-free" products are needed or justified.
  • Justify recommended amounts allocated to purchase structured settlements. Among the most frequent and severe settlement planning criticisms of structured settlements:
    • Single product structured settlement agents have an inherent conflict of interest that should disqualify them from allocating settlement proceeds;
    • Structured settlement agents invariably over-structure cases which limits planning options and increases the likelihood of future factoring transactions.
  • Disclose compensation (including shared compensation) from all recommended products subject to the recipient's informed consent.
  • Reference IRC section 5891 and the applicable state structured settlement protection statute(s).
  • Include a comparison of projected revenues from all sources and projected expenses.

For additional S2KM reporting about:

• SSP and NSSTA 2011 Annual Meetings - see the structured settlement wiki;
• Structured Settlements and Settlement Planning - see this earlier S2KM blog post.

 

SSP and NSSTA 2011 Annual Meetings - 2

This blog post continues S2KM's discussion of the 2011 annual conferences of the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) and the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) with a strategic perspective. A prior S2KM blog post identified speakers and topics featured by SSP and NSSTA. Subsequent S2KM blog posts will summarize and provide commentary about selected speaker presentations.

SSP's conference, open to members and non-members, addressed two general topics: "Special Needs Settlement Planning" and "Practice Improvement: Marketing and New Products". NSSTA's conference, for members only, celebrated NSSTA's 25th anniversary. It also included a NSSTA business meeting with reports from immediate Past-President Michael Kelly, new President Dan Finn, Executive Director Eric Vaughn, Assistant Executive Director Peter Arnold and the Chairpersons of NSSTA's several committees.

One of the highlights of NSSTA's 2011 conference was the honoring of NSSTA's past presidents. David Ringler, NSSTA's first president, spoke briefly at the conference and re-stated his original vision for NSSTA:

"Although we do need to constantly be on the watch for legislative change, I still believe having a place where everyone and anyone can sit down with each other and discuss the issues and viewpoints regardless of beliefs is the most important reason for NSSTA. I have called it a common “talk table”, although I agree that is not exactly a very elegant term. If we can continue this tradition, there is no problem we cannot overcome."

Many industry participants, including some NSSTA members, question whether NSSTA has lost sight of this original purpose and tradition. Does NSSTA continue to represent "a place where everyone and anyone can sit down with each other and discuss [structured settlement] issues and viewpoints regardless of beliefs"? The answer, unfortunately, is "no".

For the past several years, NSSTA's leadership has superimposed a strict political litmus test for membership as well as for topics and speakers at its educational conferences. As one result, structured settlement industry participants with alternative issues, viewpoints, beliefs and educational interests have founded two other national structured settlement associations: the National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP) in 1996 and SSP in 2000.

Fortunately for NSSTA members and the structured settlement industry, based upon its 2011 conference, NSSTA appears to be expanding the scope of its educational programs to address important but controversial industry topics such as IRC 468B Qualified Settlement Funds, IRC 5891 and state structured settlement protection statutes. The educational programs offered by both NSSTA and SSP also increasingly discuss three fundamental transitions reshaping the structured settlement industry:

• From structured settlements to settlement planning;
• From a singular, illiquid, and non-assignable product to multiple products with greater flexibility to address changing needs and circumstances of injury victims;
• From traditional (pre-Internet) to web-based business models, processes and skill sets.

With the structured settlement industry facing these and other challenges, including aging leadership, declining structured settlement annuity sales, anticipated legislative changes plus an increasingly complex legal and regulatory business environment, where is the strategic vision and what are the strategic priorities for NSSTA and SSP?

NSSTA President Dan Finn and Executive Director Eric Vaughn identified the following:

• NSSTA challenges:
  • Promote the expanded use of structured settlements
  • Expand the structured settlement market
  • Protect structured settlement annuitants
  • Defend IRC sections 104(a) and 130
  • Enhance the Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) program
  • Unify the structured settlement industry
• NSSTA objectives
  • Expand IRC section 104 (a)(2) to include wrongful imprisonment and sexual abuse cases
  • Expand government use of structured settlements
  • Promote structuring of MSAs in liability cases
  • Promote the structuring of Social Security disability payments
  • Promote the professionalism of structured settlements

SSP President Jack Meligan prioritized three objectives:

• Improve SSP's marketing to plaintiff attorneys
• Create an SSP lobbying presence
• Enhance the Registered Settlement Planner (RSP) certification program

Two of NSSTA's featured speakers, Jim Morris, President, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Life Insurance Company, and William T. Robinson lll, President-Elect of the American Bar Association (ABA), added important and positive assessments for structured settlements.

Morris accentuated the current financial strength of U.S. life insurance companies and explained why structured settlement annuities represent an excellent strategic product for life companies. As corollaries to Morris' presentation:

• NSSTA announced that two highly rated annuity providers, Mutual of Omaha and Berkshire Hathaway, have re-entered the structured settlement market; and
• Thomas Ronce and Craig Ulman clarified the life and health guaranty association system and how that system applies to structured settlements.

Robinson praised structured settlements as "professional and dignified solutions" for injury victims based upon his first-hand experience as a litigation attorney. Structured settlements represent "state of the art" tools for all attorneys to consider when negotiating and resolving personal injury cases according to Robinson. In his capacity as President-Elect of the ABA: Robinson also:

• Spotlighted the current funding crisis facing state courts; and
• Suggested the ABA and NSSTA should identify shared interests and lobbying opportunities.

For S2KM's reporting and commentary about past SSP and NSSTA conferences, see S2KM's structured settlement wiki.