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October 20, 2009

Millennium Settlements' "Factoring Affiliation"?

For years, there have been rumors- is there now substance?

The following announcement was mass mailed October 19, 2009 to many of New York State's trial lawyers by Law Cash (a company that provides financing to plaintiffs and the bar AND, drum roll... says that it buys structured settlements from annuitants on its website. Law Cash owns a factoring company called Structured Settlements Investments, LP, which it acquired on or about September 6, 2006.)

"The country’s premier litigation funding team from LawCash, Esquire Capital and Allied Esquire Insurance Agency are proud to announce the formation of Esquire Settlement Services (ESS)……offering structured settlement solutions and a whole lot more!

As the only settlement consulting company owned and run by practicing trial attorneys, ESS brings you true plaintiff-based settlement consultants that are dedicated to serving the plaintiff’s bar and remaining on the cutting edge of settlement planning"

Esquire Settlement Services is affiliated with Tallahassee Florida based Millennium Settlements. Millennium's strategy appears to dominate the legal funding market with existing relationships with Plaintiff Support Services , Counsel Financial and now Law Cash (which recently purchased PSS). 

The affiliation of the entities manifests a scenario in which the legal financing company has the opportunity to pressure the law firm or individual to which it provides financing to use the structured settlement firm it has an affiliation or common ownership with.

On the factoring front, while a lot of lawyers huff and puff their disgust about structured settlement factoring, it remains to seen whether or not New York State's trial lawyers or any other trial lawyer associations in the LawCash footprint believe that there is any conflict of interest (or appearance thereof) here. Structured Settlement Investments, LP is on our list of "cash now" pushers.

Finally, I must address the implication, by Esquire Settlement Services, that a company owned and run by practicing trial attorneys is a point worth noting.

Settlement planning IS NOT a part time business. There ARE a number of successful structured settlement consultants whose career originated in trial law. Ask THEM why they gave up their trial law practice.

The corollary applies. If you are a plaintiff, do you want have an attorney represent you who is not dedicated to the practice of law on a full time basis? If you need to have a kidney removed, do you seek out a part time surgeon?




Posted at 11:52 AM in Esquire Settlement Servces, Law Cash |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2021

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
    What you need to know about structured settlements. General explanation of structured settlements, including the stable guaranteed income and favorable tax benefits that give structured settlements their "juice" and a helpful introductory video featuring 2020 A.M. Best Recommended structured settlement expert and Registered Settlement Planner John Darer® of 4structures.com® LLC
  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? Structured Settlement Diagram
    How structured settlements work, accompanied by 4structures.com® LLC's helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in with other settlement planning solutions.
  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
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  • Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2021
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities going into 2021? A list of current structured annuity issuers, the location of their home offices and their financial ratings from A.M. Best, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors, links to their websites and other useful information.
  • Treasury Funded Structured Settlements
    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
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    Use the Taxable Equivalent Yield chart to help compare the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of a structured settlement to other alternative or complementary investments. Need help with the chart? Call 4structures.com® LLC at 888-325-8640
  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements
    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments. With a structured settlement you can have more than one type of payment in a single contract. Different types of structured settlement payments can be customized and combined to meet your needs on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with other financial products. Diversify your structured settlement, if you wish, by funding with more than one annuity issuer, with treasury funded structured settlements or even an index linked structured settlement.
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Contingency Fees
    Structured attorney fees is a financial strategy that offers a unique way to defer taxes for lawyers and law firms. Lawyers CAN structure their legal fees even if the plaintiff doesn't structure their settlement. There are multiple ways to structure your attorney fees, such as the an index linked structured settlement where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 with no downside and a cap of 5%. Trial Lawyers may also use a special deferred pay/deferred compensation arrangement, if market based returns returns are desired with no cap. Plan NOW for year end! Put structured attorney fee expert John Darer® on your settlement planning team.
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  • Structured Settlement Quote Lock-Ins | What You Need To Know
    What does a Structured Settlement Lock-In Mean? How do plaintiffs, defendants and insurers benefit from a structured settlement quote lock in when finalizing a settlement? How does the defendant/insurer/court benefit from using a structured settlement lock-in? Where to be careful when using structured settlement lock ins.
  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.

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  • STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS 4REAL® Blog Is a Popular Source of Structured Settlement News and Information, Settlement Planning News, Tax Deferral and Deferred Income Planning Solutions,
    with a stable readership that seeks credible structured settlement information and/or opinion about topical issues related to settlement planning, targeted to lawyers, injured persons and their family members, guardians, survivors, judges, magistrates, special masters, mediators, administrators, trust companies, insurance company executives and adjusters, financial advisers settlement professionals, financial professionals, insurance regulators, government leaders, federal and state law enforcement, buyers and sellers of structured settlement payment rights, the news media and other interested parties. 4structures.com LLC established the structured settlement blog in 2005 and for over15 years it has filled the need for critical commentary in an under-served marketplace. The John Darer® authored blog has been among the most prolific, providing fresh structured settlement, settlement planning and litigation recovery management content and commentary regularly. John Darer®, CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC, President of Stamford, CT based 4structures.com, LLC, is an experienced New York City area structured settlement expert, structured settlement broker, Certified Financial Transitionist, and Registered Settlement Planner. WHAT YOU GET here is the straight stuff with a touch of irreverence and humor. We hope you enjoy and find the content to be helpful.. Subscribe to the structured settlement blog feed, or a specific category feed through your blog reader, or through the Feedburner icon on this page. Followers of JDDarer™ on Twitter may also receive select content. Thank you for reading!

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Structured Settlement Best Practices Corner

  • New York Insurance Advertising law requires the full name of the Insurer to be listed along with the city and state of the principal office. Stating that you represent these fine companies using Insurance company logos without the preceding information are also illegal
  • When it comes to settlement documents it is the ultimate responsibility of the lawyers or claims adjusters who receive input concerning the structured settlement aspects of the documents to actually read the entire document, exercise independent thought and advise their clients properly
  • Be aware that financial advisors use of testimonials is prohibited or restricted
  • Most states require that Testimonials represent the CURRENT opinion of the person who made the testimonial. Be prepared to back it up.
  • Number of States That Prohibit Payment of QSF expenses by licensed agents and brokers
    5 Survey not yet complete.

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Why Take a Structured Settlement?

  • A structured settlement offers guaranteed financial security to personal injury victims, wrongful death survivors and their families. A structured settlement involves a customized stream of payments, provides long-term stable tax-free income, for a period of years or a lifetime. Unlike other income annuities. a structured settlement annuity can have multiple payment streams to address multiple needs in a single contract.

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