Litigation

I'm not a big fan of using absolute superlatives in marketing. Too easy to get burned.

The classic example is In early 2007 where we showed showed how the principals of one firm in the structured settlement industry made preposterous claims "in seriata" of being the only plaintiff exclusive broker in the country, as well as the only one in a particular state, while 3 of its principals in 2005 and 1 in 2006 made the mutually exclusive attestation under penalty of perjury that they had done substantial defense work in each of the preceding 3 years so they/he could get on the List of Annuity Brokers for the United States Department of Justice. As pathetic as it was at the time the fulcrum of the ethical see saw between false advertising or perjury was seemingly weighed to balance by the massive amount of cash the company promised to give to a number of the nation's trial lawyer associations. 

Far less toxic but eyebrow raising nonetheless, my pals at Creative Capital claim to be "THE ONLY TRIAL LAWYER OWNED" structured settlement company in its Internet based listing with the New York Trial Lawyer Association Partnership for Justice.

A company called Structured Settlement Solutions out of Oregon, Illinois calls itself a "structured settlement company" and promotes the tag line "structured settlement prepared by plaintiff lawyers" in addition to including the following on its website:

Lead structure consultant and personal injury attorney William P. Fearer, III has successfully litigated and settled hundreds of injury cases. Throughout his career he has structured and continues to structure settlements and attorney?s fees. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Illinois Bar Association and Texas Bar Association. Mr. Fearer's unmatched level of Plaintiff's litigation experience in the structured settlement field ensures that the needs of injury victims and their attorneys will be fully met and that Structured Settlement Solutions will remain a leader in Plaintiffs structured settlement consultations. Everything about that companies advertising suggests that it too is a "trial lawyer owned structured settlement company"
I do not know much however about Mr. Fearer as he is not listed as an active member of the Society of Settlement Planners or National Structured Settlement Trade Association.

Furthermore, the CV of one of the owners of Delta Settlements states he "practiced as a Medical Malpractice and Workers? Compensation attorney in Orlando".

There is a reason why the "busting of horns" is relevant. The absolute superlative statement was apparently made by CCI to achieve a competitive advantage over those who are not trial lawyers. In otherwords it was apparently not enough to simply let the credentials speak for themselves.

In order for the "ONLY" statement to be qualified and fair however, should one consider the following questions?

1. When we talk only "trial lawyer owned", are we talking only active trial lawyer owned, or only former trial lawyer owned?
2. Are we talking completely trial lawyer owned or are we talking a trial lawyer is one of several principals in the company?
3. Define structured settlement company? Are we talking "general agency" or does legal entity that sells structured settlement qualify? If the latter is assumed, then one could opine that another trial lawyer owned "structured settlement company" exists within the New York State Partnership for Justice. Moreover the framework of many structured settlement marketing organizations involve their affiliates setting up separate legal entities. Those entities may be owned wholly or fractionally by former or active trial lawyers.

This author respects the advertiser's qualties and legal experience but in his opinion trial law experience has been proven not to be the exclusive recipe for success in the structured settlement business. This author further opines that the advertiser's qualities stand on their own WITHOUT the absolute superlative.  This author hopes the advertiser corrects its "oversight".