Readers of Structured Settlements 4Real can now qualify for discounts on legal texts from Aspen Publishers. Discounts are available through 12/31/2009. Simply scroll down and follow the appropriate link at the bottom of the left column of this blog. Read Full Story

Douglas Petrie of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey has outdone himself with this howler website from Via Trust Inc aboutFinding The Right (Structured Settlement) Broker "Selling the settlement may seem very tempting and you may think about finding a good purchaser structured settlement. If you need expert guidance and wish to sell in a hassle free manner you may do so by hiring an experienced structured settlement broker. He has to be registered with the Department of Justice and has to be ... Read Full Story

On January 3, 2009 I posted Truth In Structured Settlement Advertising, SSP is Not a Professional Designation, after discovering that a veteran member of the profession was holding a trade association that he/she was not on record as being a member of as a professional designation on a company website. Two and one half months later Michelle Pardue of Settlement Professionals, Inc. Houston, Texas office, is still listed on the Settlement Professionals website as Michelle Pardue, CSSC SSP. She ... Read Full Story

I am going to go out on a limb with this one because I, for one, want to know how many structured annuity issuers really give a crap about plaintiffs? One can read the brochures, look at the web sites and the marketing hype, but... Are you angry at me for posing this seemingly outrageous question yet friends? GOOD.The Halpern Group,  an undisputed friend of plaintiffs, has strong anti-assignment language in the qualified assignment agreements for its United States Treasury Bond Structured Set... Read Full Story

According to Beacon Research Fixed Annuity Premium study of 53 insurance companies representing 86% of the market, U.S. sales of fixed annuities were up 60% in 2008. Surprisingly in the 4th quarter of 2008, at the height the financial crisis and bad press, in which a number of large insurers were downgraded by rating agencies, Q4 results were estimated at 90% above Q42007 and 23% higher than Q3 2008. Beacon reports that fixed annuity sales were the strongest since they began the study in 2003... Read Full Story

Patrick Hindert's "One Step Beyond" blog reference to the protagonists of the 3rd Circuit bitch slap of Rapid Settlements as "All State" appears to be no clerical error. "Hedwig" has even created a separate category on the blog for All State. "Hedwig" underestimates the intelligence of his readers including the morbidly curious who know damn well it's Allstate Life Insurance Company and its legal team  who earned the right to get in Stewie Feldm... Read Full Story

Apparently two wrongs don't make a right unless it comes out of the factoring industry. On the Legal Broadcast Network Matt Bracy, the general counsel for Settlement Capital of Dallas, TX  is interviewed by Mark Wahlstrom on the topic of misleading and obnoxious cash now pusher advertising. In the video broadcast Bracy "turns the guns back on the structured settlement industry" by contending that because the structured settlement industry fails to inform plaintiffs and annuitan... Read Full Story

"Income taxes in Illinois could soon be going up by as much as 50 percent to combat deficits in a difficult state budget", according to a CBS News report.In what would be the first increase in 20 years, the state income tax would go from 3% to 4.5%.Structured settlements provide a customizable stream of payments that are currently free of federal and state income taxes. While I am not lobbying for higher taxes the fact remains that the higher the tax the more sexy the structured se... Read Full Story

Was S2KM's Patrick Hindert an Ohio All State athlete? Perhaps so, or what else could be the explanation for the factual fromage exhibited in Hindert's review of the 3rd Circuit's recent decision concerning Rapid Settlements?How could Hindert,  a self professed student of the structured settlement industry for over 30 years, an author,  a former President of the National Structured Settlement Trade Association, a server on its many commitees, a Harvard educated lawyer and former Ex... Read Full Story

Boston attorney Jeffrey Roy  of Boston's Ravech & Roy, P.C. speaks out in favor of structured settlements in a post about the recent 3rd Circuit decision against Rapid Settlements which we reviewed yesterday."We have had many clients over the years who have rightly decided to accept their settlement proceeds in the form of structured settlements which offer them periodic payments (usually monthly) over the course of many years. These structured settlements offer stability and ... Read Full Story