Think Again, My Mellowing Friend! I recently participated in a mediation where the plaintiff attorney denied his client an opportunity to structure her settlement because his client was “too old.” She was 59. While 59 years of age may have been considered “too old” to think about lifetime financial security in another era (like, maybe…
Ex-NFL Players Find Safe Haven in the California Workers’ Compensation System: Is Dementia an Occupational Hazard? An interesting article, published April 5, 2010 by The New York Times highlights the plight of former NFL lineman Ralph Wenzel who, at age 67, now lives in an assisted living facility due to dementia allegedly caused or aggravated…
“I Want My Money and I Want It Now!” (Or, Can I Pay You To Take My Money From Me?) You’ve seen the commercials. A distraught person is shown screaming out the window at the top of their lungs in frustration because some evil, unnamed annuity company has separated them from their money like some…
Defense and Plaintiff Attorneys Agree: Structured Settlements Work! Just because plaintiff and defense attorneys are legal adversaries doesn’t mean they always disagree. For instance, clearly they agree on their obligation to advocate for the clients who retain their services click here to hire a lawyer. I’m pretty sure both agree it’s a good idea to…
For most of the last 30 years, the idea of fixed term retirement solutions seemed about as trendy as Brylcreem. Companies offering Defined Benefit plans dwindled and serious efforts were afoot to privatize Social Security. Years of generally positive returns seduced people into believing that the stock market posed no inherent risk to their retirement…
“You must pay taxes. But there’s no law that says you gotta leave a tip.” – Author Unknown – As Structured Settlements continue to evolve beyond their traditional personal, physical injury roots, many people have enjoyed the benefits of having taxable income deferred into a future year while earning pre-tax interest along the way. “Structured Settlement-like” offerings…
Then and Now: Fifty Years of Automobile Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. To commemorate this milestone and to demonstrate how far automobile safety has come in the past half century, the Institute arranged a crash test pitting a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air against a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu….
With the Golden Globes and SAG Awards behind us and Oscar nominations just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to dive into the film vaults to see what roles, if any, Structured Settlements have ever played in the movies. If you’re a sucker for courtroom dramas like I am, you probably can…
I’m not usually one to throw stones. But an article recently appeared in the Daily Journal that raised my ire sufficiently to elicit a response. I’m attaching a copy of my rebuttal Letter to the Editor, published January 13, 2010 in both the San Francisco and Los Angeles editions, for your convenience. Structured Settlements Offer…
For years, contingency fee-based attorneys-in-the-know have practiced the tax-deferral strategy known as Structured Attorney Fees. This simple, yet amazingly effective method of financial planning supplementation has allowed them to set aside funds earned during their prime income-producing years in exchange for a flow of guaranteed, uber-secure, tax-advantaged retirement income. For those who ever doubted the…