Beyond Structured Settlements

Structured Settlements in 2009 - 2

This S2KM post follows "Structured Settlements in 2009 - 1" and features topical links to S2KM 2009 blog reports.

For 2010 industry updates, please continue to visit S2KM's blog as well as S2KM's structured settlement wiki.

Prior S2KM annual industry reports:

• Structured settlements in 2008
• Structured settlements in 2007
• Structured settlements in 2006

Professional Association Meetings

• NSSTA - National Structured Settlement Trade Association
  • Winter meeting
  • Annual meeting
  • Fall meeting
• SSP - Society of Settlement Planners
  • Preview
  • Annual meeting
• NASP - National Association of Settlement Purchasers
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
• ASNP - Academy of Special Needs Planners
  • Annual meeting
  • Tim Nay interview

Settlement Consulting

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Spencer v. Hartford

• Report 1
• Report 2
• Report 3
• Report 4

IRC 468B Qualified Settlement Funds

• Single Claimant 468B QSF Update
• IRC 468B and 5891
• Robert Wood's QSF Book
  • Summary and Review
  • Robert Wood Interview
• Jeremy Babener's QSF Paper
  • Summary
    
  • Review
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
  • Jeremy Babener Interview
• US Treasury Priority Guidance Plan 2009-2010

Dissipation Studies

• Introduction
• Jeremy Babener's Dissipation Paper
  • Summary and Review
  • Jeremy Babener Interview
  • Jeremy Babener Responds

Structured Settlement Credo

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Rapid Settlements

• Pacific Life v. Rapid Settlements
• Allstate v. Rapid Settlements

Fresno County Factoring Cases

• Report 1
• Report 2
• Report 3

Additional S2KM Analysis

• Re-Thinking Structured Settlements
• Structured Settlement 2009 Mid-Year Update
• Structured Settlement 2009 Strategic Analysis
• Structured Settlements and Government Benefits
• Settlement Trust Due Diligence

Additional Primary Market Developments

• Forge Purchases TSSG
• Richard Halpern

Additional Secondary Market Developments

• S&P Withdraws JG Wentworth Credit Ratings
• Structured Settlement Securitizations

"Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments"

• S2P2J Release 45
• S2P2J Release 46

Richard Halpern

Richard Halpern, founder and President of The Halpern Group , died December 14, 2009 at age 64.

Halpern was one of the most important and controversial pioneers, critics and contrarian thinkers in the history of the structured settlement industry.

Halpern's education and training included electrical and computer engineering. Halpern started his professional practice in 1973 as a financial planner. At one time his insurance brokerage company was one of the largest in New Jersey.

Halpern entered the structured settlement industry in 1982 and subsequently clashed with the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and the traditional NSSTA structured settlement business model. The Halpern Group business model focuses on plaintiff attorneys (especially the American Association for Justice) and their clients instead of defendants and their insurers.

Risa Lower, who worked with Halpern for 31 years and now serves as Acting President of the Halpern Group, offered this assessment of Halpern's contribution to the structured settlement industry: "Rich believed in the civil justice system and helping plaintiffs. Rich introduced products other than annuities. He gave plaintiffs a choice and changed how plaintiffs and plaintiff attorneys look at structured settlements."

Structured Settlement Credo - 3

S2KM's continuing commentary about traditional structured settlement industry credo.

Good People and Bad People - We (the traditional structured settlement industry) believe the structured settlement world consists of Good People and Bad People.

Good People

• We are the Good People - the men and women of the traditional structured settlement industry.
• We are the professionals who understand, produce, sell and service structured settlement annuities.
• How do we know we are the Good People?
• Because many important people tell us we are Good People:
  • U.S. Congressmen, plaintiff attorneys and injury victims regularly, historically and continually attend our meetings to tell us we are Good People.
  • Their message: we (Good People) "protect the needy from the greedy".
• People who endorse or praise our credo are Good People.
• People who don't endorse our credo are either:
  • Bad People; or
  • Misinformed People; or
  • Misquided People.
• Injury victims and their attorneys may or may not be Good People - depending upon whether they support traditional structured settlement credo.
• Our surveys confirm
  
  • Plaintiff attorneys strongly "support" structured settlements;
  • Substantially fewer plaintiff attorneys, however, recommend us to their injury victim clients as financial advisers.

Original Sin

• The concept of "original sin" is fundamental to traditional structured settlement credo.
• We believe injury victims are unreliable - Bad People but potentially Good People.
• Why? Because, without us (Good People), injury victims "squander" their personal injury settlements.
• Even some of our strongest critics (Bad People) agree with this fundamental (Good People) structured settlement credo (i.e. the "squandering" injury victim).
• Example: Richard Halpern - no friend of structured settlement annuities.

Richard Halpern

• Based upon his public statements, Halpern supports and promotes important structured settlement credo.
• In his December 2008 article for the North Carolin Lawyers Weekly:
• Titled "Protecting Plaintiffs from the Squandered Settlement", 
• Halpern writes: "90 percent of plaintiffs will squander their financial recovery within five years of settlement".
• Halpern also announces that he has located the study confirming this fundamental structured settlement credo (90% lump sum dissipation within 5 years) - source: The Rutter Group (TRG).

More structured settlement credo to follow.