Litigation

Questions for trial lawyers

1. Does your structured settlement broker or settlement planner take kick backs from cash now pushers? According to one factoring broker 90% of structured settlement consultants referring her business do!  The money comes out of your client's recovery!
2. Has any client of yours told you that they were approached by a cash now pusher even though the annuity issuer sent written assurances of privacy along with the structured annuity contract AND the settlement agreement for their case was subject to a strict confidentiality agreement?
3. Have you heard through colleagues that a structured settlement broker or settlement planner has purportedly partnered with one of the cash now pushers and is selling names to them?
4. Is your structured settlement broker or settlement planner sharing strictly confidential case documents with cash now pushers to facilitate structured settlement factoring transactions (that they may even be getting paid on)?

HOW DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

1. Does your structured settlement broker have a published policy on their business practices? The fact remains that few disclose their activity in this area.
2. Is your structured settlement broker or settlement planner on the structured settlement clean vendor list?  If you or your client is referred by your structured settlement broker or settlement planner to Rhonda Bentzen of Bentzen Funding Solutions there is a substantial (90%) chance they do take kick backs, according to a statement made by Bentzen! If they are on the structured settlement clean vendor list  at least you have their statement under penalty of perjury that, as of the date they sign, they DO NOT engage in such practices.

Some in the structured settlement industry would prefer to say nothing and stay in the tall grass. In that regard the tall grass is being mowed.

As a reminder this author will soon publish and distribute, to the nation's trial lawyer associations, a list of names of every known structured settlement consultant,  or settlement planner, who is not on the structured settlement clean vendor list, or who has had the opportunity to make but HAS NOT made a declaration that they engage in such practices, for your reference.



Please ask these individuals what their policy is.

For your reference:

• Structured Settlement Clean Vendor List
• Those That Do
• Those That Don't Say Either Way (TBA in January 2009)
• The FAQ
  
  

Eventually the Matter of Honor project will catch those that engage in these business practices through process of elimination or will stop those who engage in these practices.

This project will not only benefit trial lawyers and their clients. It will also benefit insurers and the annuity issuers, particularly those of the latter who make written assurance  of privacy to annuitants that may be violated by certain of their agents.