Litigation

The "Shrinkage" Problem Plaguing Settlement Planners

Posted on July 05, 2008
A number of settlement planners continue to suffer from "shrinkage". No, not THAT kind of "shrinkage". I'm talking about the kind of "shrinkage" that mischaracterizes a useful settlement planning tool for "solid waste". What I'm referring to is the major...

SPI Would Have You Believe AIG "Smoking Gun" Memo" is Still Smoking!

Posted on July 05, 2008
Settlement Professionals Inc. (SPI) continues to use outdated "props" to support solicitation to hire the company for lucrative insurance business from plaintiff lawyers. It has dedicated an entire web page to what it calls the AIG "Smoking Gun" memo...

S2KM's "New Business Opportunities Created by IRC 5891 for Structured Settlements Companies"

Posted on July 04, 2008
The structured settlement industry's Patrick Hindert has let 52 days go by without supporting his postulate that factoring is route one to growth of the structured settlement industry. This author has discovered a concept map created for S2M by Barbara...

Weathering Tough Financial Times-The Long Term Costs of Quick Cash

Posted on July 04, 2008
?Rising fuel and food prices, declines in the housing market, volatility in the financial markets, an ever-tightening credit crunch...– they?re all creating unexpected financial challenges for many Americans, But tough financial times don?t necessarily justify resorting to risky ways to...

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New York Defense Structured Settlement Broker Advises Plaintiff Not To Use Own Broker

Posted on July 01, 2008
It a show of arrogance , ignorance or whatever I learned that a well known defense structured settlement broker over enthusiastically told a plaintiff that they did not need their own broker. When I learned of this I could not...

Patriot Settlement Virus Hits 2 Day Mark.

Posted on July 01, 2008
The virus plaguing the Patriot Settlement Resources, LLC web site has hit the second day. Google is still posting warnings on the search engine results that the (Patriot Settlement Resources, LLC web) site might harm your computer. Download patriot_settlement_google_search_07012008_virus...

Factoring Company Patriot Hacked? Were Annuitants Affected?

Posted on June 30, 2008
A chilling report coming from Settlement Quotes, LLC suggests that the website of Patriot Settlement Resources "appears to have been hacked over the weekend and is now spreading a series of malicious software from their website". Andrew Cravenho suggests that...

Structured Attorney Fees... Is What Website Is Saying Constructive Receipt?

Posted on June 30, 2008
A treatise on Attorney Fee Structures by attorney Richard B. Risk, JD, CSSC is posted on the Structured Settlement Services website by his son Robert Risk, CSSC a settlement planner out of Tulsa. Richard B. Risk, Jr. JD, CSSC, and...

Structured Settlement Quotes...If It's Pay Per Click It's Probably NOT RELEVANT!

Posted on June 30, 2008
The companies in the sponsored search listings that embroider most search engine results on the Internet are NOT RELEVANT to tort victims who are at or approaching the end of settlement negotiations. Virtually all such listings companies are factoring companies...

Structured Settlement Quotes

Posted on June 29, 2008
Today I'm going to discuss some common issues related to structured settlement quotes and funding which should be of importance to plaintiff attorneys, plaintiffs, insurance adjusters, defense attorneys and other interested parties or stakeholders in the structured settlement process...

Pullman (ing) Them Comley With "His" Song

Posted on June 28, 2008
wMy friends at Pullman Comley did a nice job of reviewing a number of significant California Court decisions: In Re Derrick Cox, Case No. 08 CECG 00847 AMS, Superior Court, Fresno County California (Calif. Super. Ct. May 27, 2008; and...

Structured Settlement Industry Web Sites-June 2008 Traffic Report

Posted on June 27, 2008
Three Month Trailing Top 10 Traffic Rank (Alexa Rank as of 06/27/2008) of Structured Settlement and Settlement Planning Industry websites* (+ or- traffic from 05/29/2008 report). Lower number means more traffic. Who Are Ya? Beyond Structured Settlements Blog (Pat Hindert)...

Scruggs gets 5 Years for Bribery

Posted on June 27, 2008
Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the plaintiffs' attorney who took on tobacco companies like Brown & Williamson (the subject of a 1999 Movie The Insider), was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for his role in a judicial bribery case. Scruggs...

"Atypical Opioid" Pops Up on S2KM Spam Farm

Posted on June 26, 2008
Tramadol is an atypical opioid which is a centrally acting analgesic used for treating moderate to severe pain* So what does that have to do with structured settlements or what one blogger calls 4 overlapping markets ? Absolutely nothing. What...

Factoring Industry Continuing to Chip Away At Will of Structured Settlement Consultants

Posted on June 25, 2008
DealFlow Media reports that Stone Street Capital is counting on referrals from agents and brokers with clients who own annuities to build the annuity liquidation program. Clearly showing "tremendous sensitivity" to the structured settlement industry, Gary Milwit was quoted "that...

Joe Jamail on Structured Settlements

Posted on June 24, 2008
Click below for words of wisdom on structured settlements from famed Houston, Texas trial lawyer Joe Jamail Joe Jamail Biography (click title) Interview took place during the NSSTA Winter Regional Meeting Austin, Texas January 2008

Driving Wheelchair Under The Influence

Posted on June 23, 2008
The adage of "don't drink and drive" applies as much behind the wheel as well as when "on wheels", at least in Australia. According to an Australian newspaper: A 64 year old man on a 14 km journey to visit...

It Happens Suddenly and Kills Your Finances

Posted on June 22, 2008
In the settlement industry we often talk about "Sudden Wealth Syndrome". What about "Sudden Retirement Syndrome", "Sudden Disability Syndrome", "Sudden Accident Syndrome" (you're a paraplegic and the at fault driver had only $100,000 of liability coverage that must be shared...

Structured Settlement Quote Search Affected By Factoring Industry Fakers

Posted on June 22, 2008
When searching on the Internet placing the search words in parentheses is generally going to produce the most relevant result. Using that as a starting point I want to continue shining the high beams on how "cash now pushers" are...

"I am so thankful that I have that guaranteed income coming in on a monthly basis"

Posted on June 22, 2008
"Thanks so much for your help throughout this process. Things are going well with the way things were set up with the last settlement, and given the current financial crisis that seems to be hitting everyone so hard, I am...

How Now Cash Cow?

Posted on June 21, 2008
"Cash Now Pusher" Stone Street Capital's New Tag Line is "Cash Now From the Cash Cow" Which Begs A Question that starts a new poem "HOW NOW CASH COW? CASH NOW OH WOW! CASH COW KNOW NOW! CASH COW IS...

Which Structured Settlement Industry Members Will Be JG Wentworth "Concubines"? Which Already Are?

Posted on June 20, 2008
If you are a lawyer representing tort victims keep an eye on this space. Our sources indicate that there may be only a few structured settlement brokers who, having imbibed "Patrick Hindert's Flavor Aid", are lasciviously drooling over what JG...

Legal "Oak Ridge Boys" Hustling Both Sides of Fence?

Posted on June 20, 2008
Here's a great example of how to ruin the public trust in your law firm through poor strategic thinking. First I receive a solicitation from a Tennessee law firm I've never heard of, Buxton law Firm in Oak Ridge, TN.Download...

Stone Street Capital and The Filipina Mommy Bloggers

Posted on June 20, 2008
The antithesis to the megalomaniac in the factoring industry, Stone Street Capital, appears to be having a hard time these days finding people with structured settlements to plunder, so they resort to, yes I'm afraid its true, the dreaded Filipina...

Caddy Still Swinging Wrong Clubs?

Posted on June 20, 2008
Structured settlement broker and NSSTA member Judson "Jack" Caddy, Jr. attended the JG Wentworth conference on June 17, 2008. The NSSTA issued a memorandum to all its members this week which stated that "NSSTA's mission is to promote the use...

Non Qualified Structured Settlements Private Letter Ruling

Posted on June 20, 2008
Non qualified assignments have been concluded in thousands of non personal injury cases since Liberty Mutual introduced the BARCO program in the late 1990s. Allstate and Prudential versions of the non qualified assignment program soon followed. Today non qualified assignments...

Scrap Heap Writing From Deal Flow Media...Yet Another Howler

Posted on June 20, 2008
"DealFlow Media's Structured Settlements Wire has delivered yet another howler! DealFlow Media inaccurately reported that a consortium of structured settlement agencies said it received a private letter ruling (PLR) from the Internal Revenue Service allowing the use of "tax-exempt structured...

"Bait and Switch Structured Settlement Glossary From JG Wentworth's Ad Agency Promotes "Cash Now Pusher"

Posted on June 19, 2008
What is a Glossary? Checking scholarly refererences, a glossary is variously described as: A list of often difficult or specialized words with their definitions, often placed at the back of a book. Answers.com A collection of textual "glosses" or of....

A Federal Charter For Life Insurance Regulation Inevitable?

Posted on June 19, 2008
Investment News' Darla Mercado reports on 6/9/2008 (at page 57) that the move toward federal regulation of the insurance market is working its way through Congress. There are many in the life insurance industry that applaud its movement. The state...

Hindert Comment Spam Daisies Lead to Executable Download To Porn Site

Posted on June 19, 2008
Double click on any of the three comments on Hedwig's spam daisies that have appeared on the May 4, 2008 post about National Settlement Consultants and you are led to a looping executable file to a porn site. Download http___s2kmblog.typepad...

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