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December 21, 2021

Brainless Buffalo News Publicity of Injured Infant's Structured Settlement Makes Her Target at age 18

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

M.C. suffered a critical brain injury while at a Buffalo day care. According to a Buffalo News article by Lou Michel published in December 2019 Publicity of structured settlements in newspapers shortly after the case settled with Allstate, she will receive a $200,000 settlement to resolve her family's lawsuit against Mozee's Ultimate Family Daycare. Buffalo attorney William P. Moore, of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP, is quoted citing the reasons why the structured settlement was established and the specifics of the structured settlement including the amounts and timing of the structured settlement payments.

Publicity of Minor's identity in a Newspaper and Specifics of Payments Subverts Court Protections

The Administrative Board of the Courts approved the adoption of section 202.5(e) of the Uniform Rules of the Supreme and County Courts (22 NYCRR 202.5(e)) - requiring attorneys to omit or redact certain confidential personal information from court filings in Supreme and County Court.   This rule became effective on January 1, 2015. The Chevere case settled in 2019 and the article by Lou MIchel in the Buffalo News was published December 16, 2019.

The publicity of the terms of the structured settlement (inartfully referred to by the Buffalo News as a " structured annuity settlement"), that benefit the reporter, the newspaper, the newspaper's advertisers, or the attorney, and his law firm for marketing purposes, does no service to the attorney's infant client. 

Any attorney who publishes the specific terms of a minor's settlement is exposing the minor and paving the way to the inevitable harassment that will occur when the cash now vultures start circling at or around the time she reaches age 18. From there it is possible that she could be bamboozled into selling her payments for pennies on the dollar.

Be Smart.Don't Feed the Vultures

Lawyers and reporters alike should think about the consequences of their actions before placing a vulnerable infant in harm's way. Be smart. Don't feed the vultures!

 

 

 

Posted at 01:59 PM in Albany New York Structured Settlements, Attorney Responsibility to Clients in Settlement Planning Process, Boca Raton Florida Structured Settlements, Boston Structured Settlements, Bowling Green Kentucky Structured Settlements, Bridgeport Structured Settlements, Bronx New York Structured Settlements, Brooklyn New York Structured Settlements, Buffalo New York Structured Settlements, Chicago Illinois Structured Settlements, Conshohocken Structured Settlements, Corpus Cristi Structured Settlements, CT Structured Settlements, Dallas Fort Worth TX Structured Settlements, Danbury Structured Settlements, New York Personal Injury, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, New York Structured Settlements, Newark NJ Structured Settlements, Newburgh Structured Settlements, NH structured settlements, NJ Structured Settlements, North Carolina Structured Settlements, Norwalk Structured Settlements, NYC Structured Settlements, Oklahoma Structured Settlements, Orange County Structured Settlements, Oregon Structured Settlements, Orlando Florida Structured Settlements, Palm Beach Structured Settlements, Philadelphia PA Structured Settlements, Rhode Island Structured Settlements, Rochester Structured Settlements, Sacramento Structured Settlements, San Diego Structured Settlements, San Francisco Structured Settlements, Santa Monica Structured Settlements, Sarasota Structured Settlements, Seattle Structured Settlements, Structured Settlement Watchdog®, Structured Settlements in Ithaca New York area, Structured Settlements in Kentucky, VA Structured Settlements, Virginia Structured Settlements, Washington Structured Settlements, West Virginia Structured Settlements, Westchester Structured Settlements, White Plains Structured Settlements, Wisconsin Structured Settlements, WV Structured Settlements |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2025

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    How structured settlements work, including 4structures.com LLC's super helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in on the spectrum of settlement planning solutions.
  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
    Rated Ages for Structured Settlement Annuities present advantages to all parties. Shift the mortality risk to a life insurance company which specializes in assessing mortality risk to price its life insurance and annuity products. Rated ages boost your structured settlement annuity benefit per premium dollar, or your yield on lifetime payments. Rated ages help to reduce the cost of funding a Medicare Set Aside arrangement where a Structured MSA, is being used [WCMSA, LMSA or NFMSA].
  • Top Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2025
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities in 2025? 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 and/or other Tier1 NAIC ratings, with links to their websites and other useful information. Last updated November 3, 2024
  • 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.
  • Compare Structured Settlement IRR to Other Settlement Alternatives
    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 2025
    In 2025, you can structure your settlement payments in various ways. A structured settlement allows for multiple payment types within one agreement. You can tailor and merge different structured settlement payments to suit your individual needs, either alone or alongside other financial instruments. If desired, diversify your structured settlement by utilizing multiple annuity issuers, treasury-funded structured settlements, index-linked structured settlement payments, and market-based structured options.
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Attorney Contingency Fees
    Structured attorney fees offer a financial strategy that provides a unique method for deferring taxes for attorneys and their firms. Attorneys can structure or defer their legal fees independently of whether the plaintiff structures their settlement. There are various ways to structure attorney fees, including capped or uncapped index-linked structured settlement annuities with payments adjusted according to the S&P 500 or another index's positive changes. Trial lawyers might also opt for a special deferred payment/compensation arrangement if they seek market-based returns without a cap. As the year-end approaches, consider adding structured attorney fee specialist John Darer® to your settlement planning team for 2025.
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers
    Receiving structured settlement payments from your own structured settlement or inherited structured settlement? You'll like this huge time saver. Click the title for a link to a comprehensive list of customer service telephone numbers that includes both current AND former structured settlement annuity issuers and reinsurers. If you have simple bank or beneficiary changes, or if the insurance company that issued the structured annuity has merged, sold or spun off its block of structured annuity business (e.g. Aviva, Allstate, Transamerica, AEGON, GE Capital, Liberty, CNA, Confederation Life), oran annuity issuer has changed its name and you're trying to track them down. Here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last updated December 9, 2024.
  • 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.
  • History of Structured Settlements
    Tracing the roots of structured settlements history from 1918, when Congress exempted damages for personal injury or sickness from income tax, to the establishment of structured settlements as a core personal injury settlement planning tool to the present day.
  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
    Market based structured settlements are an alternative or supplementary structured settlement solution for the plaintiff, attorney or law firm that: 1. Can afford to take some market risk 2. Have discretionary settlement dollars. Claimants and attorneys alike may find that market-based structured settlements provide the opportunity to receive tax-free income, or tax-deferred income, while enjoying growth potential.
  • iStructure |Uncapped Fixed Index Structured Settlement Annuity
    iStructure is an innovative game changing fixed index structured settlement annuity for plaintiffs or attorneys. with an intermediate to long term horizon
  • Structured Settlements and Longevity Risk| What Are the Odds?
    Do your financial resources give you enough road, or will the road run out before you do? A structured settlement annuity helps mitigate the risk of outliving your savings, no matter how long you live. A structured settlement can include one or more customized payment streams and types.

Qualified Settlement Funds

  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
    Firmwide qualified settlement funds have been heavily promoted to trial lawyers, but have been debunked in a detailed analysis in a July 2022 legal opinion a tax partner at the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Trial lawyers and firms who have established Firmwide QSFs or coinsidering establishing a Firmwide QSF should read the analysis as part of their evaluation.

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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
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