Disability Law

S2P2J Releases 43 and 44

By Patrick Hindert

ALM has published and distributed Release 43 of "Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments" (S2P2J). Co-authored by Daniel Hindert, Joseph Dehner and Patrick Hindert, S2P2J is a legal textbook first published in 1986 and updated semi-annually.

S2P2J Release 43 topics:

• Executive Life of New York
• Non-qualified structured settlements
• Single claimant 468B
• Factoring
  • Arbitration cases; and
  • DOJ's sovereign immunity defenses.
• Macomber v. Travelers
• Ohio 2007 laws for suitability and disclosure of annuities
• Constitutional findings on periodic payment statutes

Release 44 is a work-in-progress. Here are some of the highlights:

• Market growth - S2P2J Chapter 1 addresses the history and expanding use of structured settlements and periodic payments. For the past several years, the structured settlement industry has reported flat annual annuity sales of approximately $6 billion. Structured settlement legal developments, however, have continued to expand at an accelerating pace. S2KM's blog has reported recent market surveys sponsored by NSSTA and AIG. These studies, plus the growth of non-qualified assignments, will be addressed in Release 44.
• Settlement Trusts - S2P2J Release 44 will include a new Chapter 3 section titled "Settlement Trusts". This new section will organize and expand existing S2P2J coverage of settlement trusts which already includes detailed reporting about the SBU and Stanwich debacles. The expanding markets for settlement planning and special needs planning highlight the increasingly important interaction of structured settlement annuities and settlement trusts including: government bond trusts; reversionary grantor trusts; settlement preservation trusts; special needs trusts; Medicare set-aside trusts; and IRC section 468B trusts. As settlement trusts continue to proliferate, criteria for selecting a settlement trustee becomes increasingly important and will be addressed in Release 44.
• Roles and Responsibilities - The NSSTA and AIG structured settlement market surveys each spotlight plaintiff attorneys (and presumably plaintiff structure settlement advisers) as important for future market growth. Release 44 will take a closer look at the structured settlement roles and responsibilities of plaintiff attorneys (in Chapter 5) and plaintiff structured settlement consultants (in Chapter 6). Release 44 will feature an expanded analysis of how the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and SSP Standards of Professional Conduct impact key structured settlement stakeholders.
• Government Benefits - Release 44 will continue to expand and improve S2P2J Chapter 15 (Government Benefits and Structured Settlements). Featured topics will include the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 as well as the continuing problems for structured settlements created by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Release 44 will highlight the need for more specific structured settlement legal authority related to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
• Structured Settlement Transfers - The secondary annuity market represents a strategic challenge for the primary structured settlement market. S2P2J Chapter 16 continues to track and analyze secondary market developments. Release 44 will update state structured settlement protection legislation in West Virginia and Rhode Island. Release 44 also will continue to track business conduct of factoring companies including the Fresno County, California cases (Cox and Caldwell) and the Rapid Settlement arbitration cases.

Full post as published by Beyond Structured Settlements on July 20, 2008 (boomark / email).