Beyond Structured Settlements

NSSTA 2006 Fall Regional Meeting - Summary

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) hosted its 2006 Fall Regional Meeting last week at the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Approximately 175 members attended the program which NSSTA titled: "Who Does Your Client Trust?".  For additional information and articles about the program, see NSSTA’s website.

Program Highlights:

• Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-Fl) – Congressman Shaw, whom NSSTA President J.P. Steele introduced as “one of Congress’ strongest proponents of structured settlements”, was NSSTA's honored guest and featured speaker.  Congressman Shaw, the second ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, is a past recipient of NSSTA's James Corman Award.  Congressman Shaw acknowledged he is facing a tough re-election contest as he campaigns for his 14^th term of office. Congressman Shaw spoke about the challenges he and other Republicans face in this election.  He promised to continue his leadership and support for structured settlement victims.
• Broker relations initiative – Jeff Bowers provided a progress report highlighting the results of a meeting held earlier this year in Chicago.  He summarized the organizational accomplishments and identified four working groups plus group leaders.  Bowers gave high praise to the work of participating brokers as well as Lynn Courier, the facilitator.  He encouraged participation by all structured settlement brokerage firms.  According to Bowers, NSSTA's immediate past President, "NSSTA does not control this initiative even though NSSTA helps fund the initiative".
• Settlement trust workshop - NSSTA committed two and one-half hours of its educational program for a settlement trust workshop.  The workshop featured Brad Cantwell, Roger Bernstein, David Cover and Steve Brooks and included three case studies.  Randy Dyer, NSSTA's Executive Director, cited the trust workshop as an example of NSSTA's plan to provide more in-depth learning for selected topics at NSSTA meetings.
• Legal Committee report - Formerly referred to as "The Tax Posse", and now known as "All Things Considered", this round table discussion is a regular feature at NSSTA meetings. In Florida, the presenters and topics included:
  • Eric Vaughn - NSSTA's legislative challenges;
  • Tom Ronce -  Murphy v. IRS decision;
  • Mike Miller - Stephen Sultzberg and Erwin Chemerinsky opinion letters;
  • Michael Westcott - H.R. 5309;
  • Mark Alpert - Settlement transfers of attorney fees.
• Non-qualified market - Dennis Drexler summarized the growing importance of "non-qualified" (under IRC Section 130) products for installment sales of businesses.  Drexler explained the benefits and identified relevant IRC sections as well as product alternatives.
• Contrasting views of structured settlements - Plaintiff attorney Nancy La Vista offered her views of structured settlements including the criteria she uses to select structured settlement consultants. Ismael Acevedo provided a complementary presentation from the perspective of a casualty claims department.
  
• Marketing strategies - NSSTA's program included separate marketing presentations about branding and Internet marketing.  Larry Larsen discussed traditional branding strategies including media relations and knowledge leadership. Jay Berkowitz outlined strategies and identified tools for improving search results on the Internet.

As organizational news, NSSTA announced the appointment by the NSSTA Board of Directors of three new directors (Martha Hunt; Jim Logan; and Theresa Triplett) to replace three directors (Gary Burke; John McCulloch; and Andy McLean) who have resigned from the Board since NSSTA's 2006 Annual Meeting.

Congratulations to NSSTA and its educational committee for another outstanding program.  The  NSSTA Winter Regional meeting will be held January 24-26, 2007 in Sante Fe, NM.  For additional details see NSSTA's website.

For a complete listing of all S2KM blog posts about NSSTA, click here.

Check back for:

• Future S2KM blog posts about the NSSTA 2006 Fall Regional;
• Commentary about the NSSTA meeting on The Settlement Channel;
• S2KM's recommended learning resources for NSSTA's program topics;

Or, alternatively, subscribe to "Beyond Structured Settlements", and other structured settlement blogs, using a free aggregator like Bloglines.

Concept Maps

What are concept maps? 

How do concept maps impact:

• Education generally?
• Specific knowledge-based industries such as law or structured settlement or personal injury settlement planning?

How do concept maps interact with other Web 2.0 tools such as podcasts, weblogs, wikis and Voip?

Robert R. Hoffman, Ph.D, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (ihmc), addressed the topic: “Applications of Concept Maps” at the University of Cincinnati's new Recreation Center on April 20, 2006.  The Rec Center is an exciting new addition to the UC campus and provided an outstanding venue for Dr. Hoffman's presentation..

Sponsored by UC's Center for Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, Dr. Hoffman:

• Summarized the theoretical and research foundations of concept maps:
• Provided guidance for building concept maps ; and
• Highlighted concept map examples involving education, knowledge management, problem solving and collaboration.

Dr. Hoffman is a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award, and an Honorary Fellow of The British Library, Eccles Center for American Studies. He received his BA, MA, and PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Cincinnati, where he also earned McMicken Scholar, Psi Chi, and Delta Tau Kappa Honors. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist at ihmc in Pensacola, FL.   

Dr. Hoffman has been recognized internationally for his research on human factors in technology for terrain analysis and weather forecasting, the psychology of expertise, the methodology of knowledge elicitation, and human factors issues in the design of workstation systems and knowledge-based systems.  Hoffman's most recent experiments have investigated novice and expert interpretation of aerial thermograms and meteorological satellite images. Another current project involves an effort to define the methodologies for human-centered computing and cognitive technologies.  Dr. Hoffman is an advocate of concept maps and an expert in their design and application.

Originally developed by Joseph D. Novak, concept mapping is defined in wikipedia as “a technique for visualizing the relationships between different concepts.  A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships in between concepts”.  wikipedia also identifies and describes specific applications for concept maps - many of which Dr. Hoffman featured in his presentation. Dr. Hoffman differentiated concept maps (aka cmaps) from other types of digital maps including mind maps and topic maps. One point of differentiation, according to Dr. Hoffman, is the importance of "linking phrases" in cmaps.

Most of Dr. Hoffman’s cmap examples utilized “CmapTools”, a free software tool developed and supported by ihmc.  ihmc is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System based in Pensacola and affiliated with several Florida universities.  ihmc describes CmapTools as a “knowledge modeling kit” that “empowers users to construct, navigate, share, and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps”.

Dr. Hoffman’s presentation highlighted a growing international interest in concept maps. According to Dr. Hoffman, cmaps are now being used in over 150 countries.  Among other countries, Dr. Hoffman cited Panama and Finland where educators are using cmaps as an "infrastructure framework".  The Second International Conference on Concept Mapping (CMC 2006) will take place September 5-8, 2006 in San Jose, Costa Rico. The First International Conference on Concept Mapping (CMC 2004) was held in Pamplona, Spain.

Additional examples of concept maps:

• ihmc's CmapTools documentation
•  Social Software - created by Barbara Bowen for Denham Grey
• Podcasting - created by Barbara Bowen for S2KM Limited

Educational Conferences

As participants within the structured settlement and settlement planning industries increasingly recognize the complexity and importance of their professions, one result should be improved educational programs that incorporate Internet features including weblogs, podcasts and wikis.

Thank you to Denham Grey for alerting me to this excellent weblog post on 2 Cents Worth about how any organization or association can improve and expand its educational programs using Internet technologies.

The Future of Structured Settlements

This weblog entry features four slides from a power point entitled “The Future of Structured Settlements" presented as the keynote address at the Managelsdorf Companies' Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ on January 12, 2006 by Patrick Hindert, S2KM’s Managing Director:

Thanks to T.V. Mangelsdorf and Dick Lewis for the invitation and presentation opportunity.  Thanks also to Keith Burtoft for developing the illustrations.

History Diagram - click on individual images to enlarge.

 

 

Transaction Diagram

Stage 3 Transition

Impact of the Internet

 

 S2KM's analysis of  “The Future of Structured Settlements” is a work in progress.  For earlier S2KM thinking about structured settlements, see: “New Basics for Structured Settlements” and “Understanding Structured Settlements” .

S2KM welcomes comments and will continue to update and improve these documents.

See also the most recent comments about structured settlements by Denham Grey on Denham's weblog: "Structured Settlements 3.0?"

As structured settlements become increasingly complex and important, new  knowledge leaders are needed to address priority industry issues. Contact S2KM for additional assistance in understanding structured settlements or in transitioning your structured settlement knowledge to the Internet.

Understanding Structured Settlements

(Re)learning resources about structured settlement from S2KM Limited :

• Post 9/11 Structured Settlements - understanding the New Basics for Stage 3 structured settlements.
• "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments"
  • Introducing the authors and publisher;
  • Announcing Release 38;
  • Featuring updated Chapter 5: "Role and Responsibilities of Plaintiff Counsel in Structured Settlements".
• How the Internet impacts structured settlements including
  • Knowledge Management - with thanks to Denham Grey and Eric Tsui.
  • Social Network Technologies
  • Podcasting - with thanks to Mark Wahlstrom and Ed Vogt.
  • Concept Maps (Example: Podcasting) - with thanks to Barbara Bowen.
  • Standards
• IRC Section 5891 - How the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act impacts structured settlements 
  
  • Provides the Internal Revenue Code definition for structured settlement;
  • Authorizes state processes for completing structured settlement transfers;
  • Clarifies tax treatment of structured settlement transfers.
• Medicare Set-aside Arrangements - how the Medicare Secondary Payer rules are changing structured settlements and personal injury settlement planning.
• Compensation Disclosure - How the NAIC Model Compensation Disclosure requirements impact structured settlements.
• Settlement Trusts - How to select a trustee
• IRC 468B Funds - The single claimant issue
• Plaintiff Attorney Compensation - The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004
• Structured Settlement Trade Associations
  • National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA);
  • National Alliance of Medicare Set-aside Professionals (NAMSAP);
  • Society of Settlement Planners (SSP); 

Social Network Technologies

Denham Grey, a leading Knowledge Management (KM) thinker and practioner, takes on the KM lions in their own den when he moderates an online presentation this week for the "Star Series" sponsored by the Association of Knowledgework (AOK).

Entitled "Knowledge Sharing and Social Software", Denham's presentation includes a valuable and related wiki.  Among other resources, the wiki features a concept map of podcasting created by Barbara Bowen for S2KM Limited.

For additional background information about social network technologies, see Denham Grey's weblog, "Knowledge-at-work" as well as the following wikipedia entries:

• Community of practice

• Concept map

• Knowledge management

• Podcasting

• RSS

• Social bookmarking

• Social network

• Weblog

• Wiki

Plus additional information about:

• Podcasting
• Knowledge management and structured settlements.
• Membership in AOK.

Congratulations Kalamazoo!

The Kalamazoo Promise  represents an exciting and entrepreneurial investment in learning and community development.  Congratulations to Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Public Schools.

From one graduate of Kalamazoo's public schools , thanks to everyone associated with the Kalamazoo Promise - including anonymous donors as well as persons who have contributed, and continue to contribute, to make Kalamazoo a special community.