The King of Torts Addresses Structured Settlements
The keynote address by esteemed trial attorney Joseph Jamail (aka "The King of Torts") was one of the highlights of the NSSTA 2008 Winter Meeting.
Jamail and Jay Harvey, the immediate past-president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA), who also spoke at the NSSTA meeting in Austin, represent the most recent plaintiff attorneys to appear at NSSTA meetings to endorse structured settlements.
Among other endorsements from plaintiff attorneys, the King of Torts' structured settlement proclamations now appear on NSSTA's website :
- "Structured settlements provide the ultimate safeguard for settlement funds."
- "Structured settlements help lawyers protect the needy from the greedy."
The message and choreography of NSSTA's plaintiff attorney appearances and endorsements are strikingly similar. Escorted and introduced by, or featured with, their NSSTA-member structured settlement advisors (Robin Young for Joe Jamail), these trial attorneys announce their support for structured settlements and make positive, uplifting comments about the structured settlement industry. The NSSTA audience applauds - with enthusiastic standing ovations for celebrity attorneys such as the King of Torts. NSSTA allocates little or no time for questions. No controversial issues are addressed. Everyone walks away happy. NSSTA posts the positive sound bites on its website and declares a public relations victory.
NSSTA's continuing strategy to feature plaintiff attorney endorsements is understandable in the context of results from NSSTA's recent marketing study titled "A Study of the Structured Settlement Process Conducted on behalf of the National Structured Settlement Trade Association". This survey "of attorneys involved in structured settlements and structured settlement recipients" was conducted for NSSTA during 2006 and 2007 by the University of Georgia Research Center. The purpose of the study, as reported by Joseph M. Costello at the NSSTA 2007 Annual Meeting, was "to better understand the perceptions these stakeholders have of structured settlements".
Some of NSSTA's announced findings based upon research including telephone interviews with 43 plaintiff attorneys:
- 95 percent of the plaintiff attorneys surveyed said they were proponents of structured settlements;
- 75 percent said they would recommend a structured settlement in an appropriate case;
- 70 percent said they retain a structured settlement consultant;
- And yet, according to NSSTA:
- Only 7% of personal injury settlements between $75,000 to $100,000 involve structured settlements; and only 30% of personal injury settlements over $1 million;
- Plaintiff attorneys prefer (and presumably recommend) the following financial planning resources for their clients:
- Trust company/department - 30%
- Financial planner - 28%
- Structured settlement consultant - 23%
- No response - 19%
Among NSSTA's "lessons learned" from the survey: plaintiff attorneys are a critical point of contact for structured settlement education and marketing.
Based upon these findings, NSSTA's public relations strategy with plaintiff attorneys makes a lot of sense as a critical priority for the growth of structured settlements. Endorsements by prominent plaintiff attorneys (including especially "The King of Torts") are positive and valuable for the structured settlement industry.
To grow the structured settlement market, however, current industry stakeholders (including NSSTA, SSP, NASP and their members) need to engage attorneys in a more well-defined educational conversation about structured settlements. Targeted attorneys should include judges, mediators, special needs attorneys, trustees, guardians, defense attorneys, legislators and regulators - as well as plaintiff trial attorneys.
For plaintiff attorneys, this recommended educational conversation should address priorities S2KM previously identified in a blog post criticizing the lack of structured settlement education at the AAJ 2007 Annual Convention.
On a positive note for AAJ and structured settlements, the December 2007 issue of "Trial" magazine (the "Journal of the American Association for Justice") provides a small, but timely and related, educational step forward. The issue is titled "Find Your Way to Settlement - Smart Strategies for Your Next Case". Among many settlement articles and structured settlement advertisements, one article addresses structured settlements - Dov Apel's article: "Settling the Cerebral Palsy Case". In his article, Apel summarizes some (but far from all) of the most important structured settlement issues for plaintiff attorneys including: protecting the confidentiality of injury victims' personal medical information; and 468B qualified settlement funds.
In addition to Joseph Jamail's valuable endorsement and public relations sound bites (plus considerable annuity premium), what is the structured settlement legacy of The King of Torts? This author hopes Joseph Jamail's most important and lasting structured settlement contribution will result from his advice in Austin:
"Advocacy should be part of the practice and training of structured settlement professionals".
S2KM endorses the King of Torts' advice and further encourages:
- Continued structured settlement research and advocacy focused on injured and disabled persons;
- Continued education about structured settlement public policy and laws - including how to improve the laws and related legal processes;
- Respectful and open discussion about issues related to such research, advocacy, education and improvement.
For additional information about the role and responsibility of plaintiff attorneys in structured settlements, see Chapter 5 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments".
Addendum 01282008
Since writing and publishing this post, the author has received comments from NSSTA representatives pointing out some of NSSTA's efforts and successes in engaging plaintiff attorneys in educational dialogue about structured settlements - including what needs to improve and change. S2KM acknowledges NSSTA's efforts to engage some of its plaintiff attorney speakers in meaningful educational dialogue. President Henry Strong, in particular, should be recognized and thanked for his questions to plaintiff attorney Webb Brennan at the NSSTA 2007 Fall Meeting. Although this author did not attend that presentation, Strong's questions apparently resulted in valuable and frank discussion about structured settlements including problems. That type of discussion represents a positive step in refocusing and growing the structured settlement market and should be encouraged and continued. S2KM apologizes for missing the Webb Brennan discussion and for failing to sufficiently credit NSSTA in the above post for its efforts to develop meaningful educational dialogue with plaintiff attorneys.
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