Litigation

Settlement Planning- A Profession or a Party "Mask"?

By John Darer

Is "settlement planning" a profession or is it simply a "party mask" worn by some structured settlement producers?

In a number of cases I believe it's the latter. If the term is to accurately describe what settlement professionals do- to the legal community, to injured parties and the other parties in litigation, the message must be more clearly and visibly defined at both the company and association level AND reflected in the day to day activities of a larger number of individuals.

More voices need to appear to increase the credibility and prestige to the profession. Despite the fact that there are hundreds who might fancy themselves as "settlement planners" one can count the number of regular writers and publishers on one hand.

In my opinion, more of those who refer to themselves as "settlement planners", but are essentially masking what they really do, need to avail themselves of professional development programs like the Registered Settlement Planner, Medicare Set Aside Consultant Certification, Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Life Assistance Planner, Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, Master of Science in Financial Services AND participate in the public intellectual discourse that has been going on for over 3 years.

Those who call themselves "settlement planners" should be leaders. They should take off the "party mask" and lead by example.

Full post as published by Structured Settlements 4Real on August 30, 2008 (boomark / email).