Beyond Structured Settlements

NASP 2007 Annual Meeting - 1

The National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP) hosted its 2007 Annual Meeting October 18-19 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.   This author was privileged to participate. 

S2KM's reporting about NASP's 2007 Annual Meeting begins with this blog post and this wiki which summarizes NASP's 2007 Educational Program -  a learning conversation about "The Structured Settlement Market". 

For prior S2KM commentary about NASP, see this S2KM blog post.

Richard Risk's Structured Settlement Newsletter

Richard B. Risk, Jr. is a pioneering attorney who advocates the rights of structured settlement recipients.  Risk's extensive and provocative legal writing about structured settlements appears on his website and provides a sharp counterpoint to traditional defense-oriented structured settlement perspectives. 

Risk publishes a Structured Settlement Newsletter and recently distributed the first 2007 issue.  The newest issue features an article by Risk titled: "Doing What's Right and Avoiding What's Wrong".  It provides valuable advice for plaintiff attorneys as they prepare for their 2007 Annual Convention in Chicago July 13-18.

Risk's featured newsletter article highlights potential legal exposure for plaintiff attorneys related to structured settlements. 

According to Risk:

• "Structured settlements can ...expose the client to abuses and the trial attorney or guardian ad litem to claims of negligence or breach of professional conduct rules if left to the defendant or its liability insurer to handle."   
• "The challenge is to ensure that a structured settlement is presented in those cases where it should be, while avoiding abuses to the client that the defendant or its liability insurer may attempt, and avoiding allegations from the client of professional negligence or violations of the rules of professional conduct."
• "To meet this challenge, the trial lawyer needs to understand the structured settlement transaction as well as what may be going on behind the scenes that effects the attorney's ability to provide competent representation to the client."

Risk's current Structured Settlement newsletter also includes:

• A sequential analysis of IRC 468B Qualified Settlement Funds;
• A useful summary of the structured settlement annuity providers; plus
• An insightful, but now outdated, article about Murphy v. IRS.

In addition to his Structured Settlement Newsletter, Risk's website contains valuable and well-organized resources for lawyers interested in structured settlements and personal injury settlement planning.