Beyond Structured Settlements

Web 2.0 for Lawyers Concept Map

This blog post re-publishes an updated S2KM concept map titled "How Web 2.0 Impacts Lawyers" developed with Dr. Barbara Bowen, Managing Director of Sound Knowledge Strategies.

Related resources:

• Barbara's audio interviews with Ned Arthur of Truffle Media Networks:
  • S2KM Podcast Tape 10 - discussing the "Web 2.0 for Lawyers" concept map;
  • S2KM Podcast Tape 4 - introducing Barbara and concept maps.
• A "Web 2.0 for Lawyers" wiki developed with Denham Grey and featuring Barbara's concept map.
• A blog post by Luis Suarez about the evolution of Knowledge Management.

In addition to Barbara's audio interviews, the Web 2.0 for Lawyers concept map includes:

• Six (6) embedded (linked and related) concept maps
• Improved links for:
  • Web 2.0 Google searches
  • Web 2.0 commentators including:
    
    • Tim O'Reilly
    • Dion Hinchcliffe
  • Web 2.0 commentators who focus on lawyers including:
    
    • Professor Lawrence Lessig; and
    • The Kennedy-Mighell Report.

S2KM will continue to feature leading "Web 2.0 for Lawyers" commentary and resources on this blog - including periodic updates and improvements for the S2KM-sponsored Web 2.0 for Lawyers concept map and wiki.

Single Claimant 468B Settlement Funds

Robert W. Wood, the pre-eminent authority on "Taxation of Damage Awards and Settlement Payments", analyses Single Claimant 468B Settlement Funds in his first audio podcast interview  with Ned Arthur and S2KM Limited. Rob, a partner at Wood & Porter, is a prolific and highly-respected author and commentator whose specialties include structured settlements.

The Wood & Porter website features a comprehensive listing of Rob's publications - books and articles.

Rob's first audio podcast with S2KM Limited focuses on public policy arguments for and against Single Claimant 468B Settlement Funds. Rob's audio podcast is featured on S2KM's blog (Podcast Tape 8) and S2KM's Structured Settlement Public Policy Wiki.

IRC section 468B was enacted as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. IRC section 468B created important settlement funding options for plaintiffs and their attorneys.  The controversial issue is whether IRC section 468B applies to single claimant cases.  The U.S. Treasury Department is currently evaluating the Single Claimant 468B issue. 

What are the stakes for structured settlement stakeholders?  There are many including who (plaintiff or defendant) controls structured settlement decisions and who (plaintiff or defense annuity agent) controls annuity commissions.

Rob Wood is the expert on IRC section 468B Settlement Fund options and issues including Single Claimant 468B Settlement Funds.

Rob's audio podcast interview:

• Outlines IRC section 468B's history and public policy;

• Initiates a strategic online conversation about Single Claimant 468B Funds.

In a separate audio podcast interview with Ned Arthur (S2KM Podcast Tape 9), Rob analyzes structured attorney fees.

S2KM Podcast Review - 1

This blog post highlights and summarizes S2KM's first six audio podcasts which can be subscribed to and are accessible from the upper left corner of S2KM's blog: "Beyond Structured Settlements". Future S2KM reviews will also highlight podcasts from other structured settlement podcast sites including Ringler Radio, The Settlement Channel and The Factoring Channel.

Truffle Media Networks - S2KM initiated its own podcast channel (S2KM Podcast Channel) June 10, 2007 in collaboration with Truffle Media Networks.  Ned Arthur of Truffle Media hosts S2KM's podcasts. During the past six weeks, S2KM and Truffle Media have begun to develop a collaborative public podcast library.  We intend to continue this collaboration throughout 2007.

Preliminary S2KM podcasts focus on these topics and people:

Participant introductions

• Ned Arthur - S2KM Podcast Tape 1 introduces S2KM Podcast host Ned Arthur and Ned's company, Truffle Media Networks. In Tape 1, Ned and Patrick Hindert, S2KM's Managing Director and blog editor, discuss Ned's background and provide an overview of Truffle Media Networks. They also discuss the application of podcasting to the following industries:
  • Structured settlements - including the primary and secondary United States markets
  • Personal injury settlement planning
  • Special needs planning
  • Secondary insurance markets for annuities and life insurance
• Barbara Bowen - S2KM Podcast Tape 4 introduces Dr. Barbara Bowen, Managing Director of Sound Knowledge Strategies. Barbara is a knowledge management (KM) expert who specializes in eliciting and visually representing tacit knowledge to achieve shared mental models. In Tape 4, Ned and Barbara discuss Barbara's educational and professional background and introduce concept maps. In subsequent S2KM podcasts, Barbara and Ned will discuss specific S2KM concept maps including "How does Web 2.0 Impact Lawyers".
• Joseph Dehner - S2KM Tape 5 introduces Joseph Dehner, a partner in the law firm Frost Brown Todd and co-author of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments". Ned and Joe discuss Joe's historical study of, and role within, the structured settlement industry beginning in 1977. Ned also elicits Joe's preliminary S2KM podcast analysis of structured settlement public policy. Joe will be providing additional podcast commentary about structured settlement public policy for S2KM during the next couple of weeks.

Supplemental S2KM reporting - The following S2KM podcasts supplement prior S2KM blog reporting:

• Special Needs Attorneys - In S2KM Podcast Tape 2, Ned and Patrick discuss the relationship between structured settlements and special needs attorneys. Related S2KM commentary and analysis includes:
  • Structured Settlement Law - a public wiki S2KM developed for a June 12, 2007 presentation to the Academy of Special Needs Planners.
  • Academy of Special Needs Planners - an S2KM blog post reviewing the Academy's March 2007 Annual Conference.
  • Inconvenient Questions - S2KM's three-part series about the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and its potential impact on structured settlements.
• Structured Settlement Mid-2007 Report - In S2KM Podcast Tape 3, Ned and Patrick identify and review important mid-2007 structured settlement industry developments as highlighted in a prior S2KM blog post. They also review June 2007 structured settlement newsletters from the law firms Drinker Biddle and Pullman & Comley.
• AAJ 2007 Annual Conference - In S2KM Podcast Tape 6, Ned and Patrick review the American Association for Justice (AAJ) 2007 Annual Meeting which occurred in July 2007. S2KM's blog coverage of the AAJ meeting included three posts. S2KM and Truffle Media will be publishing additional AAJ Conference podcast reviews in August featuring other structured settlement stakeholder attendees.

For additional information about podcasting, see S2KM's prior blog post "Introduction to Podcasting" which features an embedded concept map developed by Barbara Bowen.

S2KM Mid-2007 Structured Settlement Report

As Fourth of July 2007 quickly approaches, structured settlement stakeholder associations are re-organizing under their 2007 leadership.  These stakeholder associations include:

• National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA).
• Society of Settlement Planners (SSP)
• American Association for Justice (AAJ)
• National Association of Trial Lawyer Executives (NATLE)
• National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA)
• Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP)
• Special Needs Alliance (SNA)
• National Alliance of Medicare Set-aside Professionals (NAMSAP)
• National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP)

As  unsollicited input to these associations, S2KM offers this mid-year 2007 summary of important structured settlement legal developments. 

S2KM's Podcast 3 (accessible from S2KM's blog courtesy of Truffle Media Networks) provides a related audio summary.

Mid-2007 Structured Settlement Legal Developments

• Potential $600 Million Shortfall at Executive Life of New York - "Drinker Biddle's Structured Settlement Update" provided an early Internet analysis of this story.  NSSTA has reacted swiftly by announcing an "ELNY Task Force".  In a June 29, 2007 written message to NSSTA members, President Henry Strong also announced:
  • Two-time NSSTA President Len Blonder will Chair NSSTA's ELNY Task Force;   
    
  • NSSTA has already met directly with the New York Liquidation Bureau; and   
    
  • NSSTA has initiated "productive discussions" with the American Counsel of Life Insurers (ACLI).
• Social Security POMS to Address Structured Settlements - S2KM first reported this announcement by the SSA's Ken Brown in an April 9, 2007 blog post titled: "Academy of Special Needs Planners".  See these S2KM blog posts for additional background and analysis:
  • Structured Settlements and Government Benefits
  • Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) - S2KM's 3-part blog series titled "Inconvenient Questions" reviews Sylvius von Saucken's 2007 article about the DRA and structured settlements.
  • Release 41 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" includes a new Chapter 15 titled "Government Benefits and Structured Settlements".
• First Primary Market Disclosure Case - "Pullman & Comley's Structured Settlement Insights" provided the first Internet analysis of Joseph v. The City of New York which Pullman & Comley characterizes as ""the first court opinion to analyze the requirements in structured settlement protection acts that disclosures be made when negotiating a structured settlement."  
• DOJ Sovereign Immunity Defense Voids Transfers - see "Drinker Biddle's Structured Settlement Update" for analysis of two DOJ sovereign immunity cases: Transamerica v. Settlement Capital and Continental Casualty v. United States.
  
• New Pennsylvania Rule 229.2 - S2KM reported and analyzed this change to the Pennsylvania Structured Settlement Protection Act in a June 27, 2007 blog post.
• Rapid v. Symetra - S2KM reported this case in a June 19, 2007 blog post.  The case confirms the general rule that, even following the enactment of IRC Section 5891, courts will enforce a clear and explicit anti-assignment provision in structured settlement agreements provided the interested parties timely object after having been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. For additional S2KM reporting about Rapid, see: CNA v. Rapid Settlements.

Check back for continuing S2KM blog and podcast reports and commentary covering important structured settlement issues and events - including exclusive S2KM reports from the 2007 AAJ Annual Convention July 13-18, 2007 in Chicago. 

For previous S2KM analysis of the structured settlement industry, see:

• Structured Settlement History
• Structured Settlements in 2006
• Structured Settlement Transaction Diagram
• Overview of the Structured Settlement Market
• Structured Settlement Transfers: Good or Bad?
• How the Primary Market Views Factoring
• The Future of Structured Settlements

Return to blogging and podcasting

Following a five week blogging hiatus, S2KM's structured settlement blog coverage will begin again in June. At that time, S2KM will also begin offering audio podcast commentary.  S2KM's audio feed player and podcast subscription buttons are already installed and visible on the left side of this blog.  S2KM audio commentary will become available starting next week. 

The structured settlement industry is fortunate to have these existing sources for podcast news, features and commentary:

• The Legal Broadcast Network (LBN)
  
  • The Settlement Channel
  • The Factoring Channel
• The Legal Talk Network (LTN)
  
  • Ringler Radio

S2KM believes the market for podcasts is growing.  There is room for and need for additional structured settlement podcast sources and applications - especially as structured settlements continue to merge (on the plaintiff side) with settlement planning and special needs planning. 

To provide podcast content, S2KM is partnering with Truffle Media Networks.  Based in Indianapolis, Truffle Media's core values and skill sets include the use of podcasts to help build online communities and networks. 

Truffle's background and success building communities and networks for specific international agricultural industries is a great example of how the growth and development of online social networking sometimes appears counter-intuitive.  Who would have assumed that farmers (physical laborers) would be among the early web 2.0 adapters?  Ned Arthur of Truffle Media will be co-hosting S2KM's preliminary podcasts.  S2KM welcomes Truffle Media as a communication and education partner.

S2KM's podcasts will supplement S2KM blog posts and feature interviews and commentary.  Preliminary topics will include three recent conferences S2KM attended:

• NSSTA's 2007 Annual Meeting
• Stetson Law School Special Needs Trust Seminar
• NAELA's 2007 Symposium

In addition, S2KM will begin taking a closer look at how web 2.0 is impacting structured settlements, settlement planning and special needs planning.  As one example, take a look at Care Pages - a simple, and free, social networking tool that connects disabled persons (and elderly persons) with their family and friends.

For additional information about:

• Podcasting - see S2KM's "Introduction to Podcasting"
• Web 2.0 -  see S2KM's "Web 2.0 for Lawyers".

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.

NSSTA 2006 Winter Regional - Take 2

This post includes a January 13, 2006 podcast interview of weblog author Patrick Hindert by Mark Wahlstrom for The Settlement Channel.  The Settlement Channel is part of The Legal Broadcast Network (LBN). 

The interview summarizes the NSSTA 2006 Winter Regional Meeting and the Mangelsdorf Companies 2006 Annual Meeting. 

The NSSTA meeting included a collaborative presentation by Wahlstrom and Hindert titled "Introduction to Podcasting". 

Hindert delivered the keynote address at the Mangelsdorf meeting titled: "The Future of Structured Settlements".

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.

Introduction to Podcasting

 This entry updates, summarizes and links prior S2KM weblog entries about podcasting.

The update includes a new S2KM power point (“Introduction to Podcasting”) presented at the NSSTA 2006 Winter Regional in collaboration with The Legal Broadcast Network (LBN).  The powerpoint features a concept map by Barbara Bowen.

Click on the image below to enlarge the concept map.

In addition to Barbara,  NSSTA, and LBN (Mark Wahlstrom and Ed Vogt), S2KM thanks  Denham Grey and  Keith Burtoft for their collaboration in developing the following materials:

S2KM Powerpoint (“Introduction to Podcasting”) Download NSSTA.ppt

 Podcasting wiki – by Denham Grey

LBN video podcast (requires Windows Media Player) – Mark Wahlstrom and Ed Vogt;

LBN podcast interview of Patrick Hindert - by Mark Wahlstrom;

The Settlement Channel - a leading provider of structured settlement (S2) podcast programing.

Ringler Radio - a second leading provider of S2 podcast programing.

eRadio - audio video engineers (including Ed Vogt) who specialize in S2 podcast programing.

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);