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).
- Two-time NSSTA President Len Blonder will Chair NSSTA's ELNY Task Force;
- 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:
Comments