Well, at some point I needed to break my self imposed exile from both podcasting and blogging that has been going on for about the last six weeks or so. As anyone who knows me is aware, during the last 5 months I have been actively engaged in several ventures, not the least of which is The Legal Broadcast Network, of which I am now officially the Chairman. In addition to that i've been up to my elbows in three significant multi-litigant cases in which my firm, Wahlstrom & Associates was further developing it's 468b trust product and approach to handling difficult cases. In short it's been one exceptionally busy 5 months and one that caused my blogging and podcasting schedule here on LBN to suffer.

So you might ask, what exactly have you been doing and what is going on with LBN, Speaking of Settlements, Wahlstrom & Associates, etc?

1. The Legal Broadcast Network, aka, LBN, has now been fully funded by our venture capital firm and other investors with the final papers and official documents signed just last week. As you can imagine, the process of reorganizing LBN, bringing in top level managements, building a team of advisors and ramping up our staffing and production is quite a project. Scroll down a few items to read our press release, learn about LBN's new CEO, Tim Butler and the team we have built over the last 5 months. You are going to see a major expansion in our shows, channels, commentators and offerings, not the least of which is going to be a substantial build out of The Settlement Channel and it's content and sponsors. I can tell you that we will be back on a daily blogging and weekly podcasting format starting in July with options and opportunities for you to join our professional network and be part of our shows. To say that LBN is going to be making major changes and moving quickly is an understatement, but in my role as chairman and director of channel sales I will actually be doing a lot less of the administration and day to day, which is going to be a welcome change for me.

 2. Speaking of Settlements: If you haven't been over to our beta test page for Speaking of Settlements, click on the link and head over to take a look and sign up. As I mentioned, LBN is going to be expanding it's options and opportunities for our members and one of the biggest innovations doesn't cost you, the settlement professional, anything to be part of it.Speaking of Settlements is a complete professional network in which any settlement professional, lawyer or legal professional can fill out a profile for free, start a blog, post video or audio content or create discussion boards and rooms. I've been running the beta test for about 90 days now and we are ready to really ramp it up. If you aren't yet a member, it takes about five minutes, costs you nothing and gives you the ability to promote your firm, your practice and have a voice in our industry on the internet at no cost to you. This is going to also be the location of all of our audio, video and written material which is being made available to you at no cost as well, so head over, check it out and start being part of the discussion!

3. Wahlstrom & Associates. As my various GA's over the years can attest, I tend to be a big game hunter who spends a lot of time developing new markets and areas that fit my particular business style and interests. As anyone who is even a casual reader of this blog knows, I specialize in structured sales, structured legal fees and particularly in mass tort and multi-litigant cases involving 468b settlement trusts. In the last year I have successfully developed a methodology for utilizing these trusts in both large and small cases, primarily through effective education of our trial lawyers, judges and the life markets who are interested in working with my firm. I'm happy to say we have taken two cases from beginning to end now with this new process, and have about 8 more in process, all of which allow my firm to work cooperatively with other professionals, protect the interests of my clients and the plaintiffs and bring order to what has been a typically chaotic process. I will be doing a lot more joint work with settlement experts from around the country as we continue to develop expertise in 468b trusts and if you want to learn more be sure to go over to my page at Wahlstrom & Associates as I start posting case studies and methods over there. 

Ok, so thats the brief version. I'm back in the saddle, i'll be blogging daily and podcasting weekly. Again, if you have a show, topic or guest you want interviewed, let me know and I'll put them in the rotation. It's good to be back and i'm excited about moving forward. I hope you will join me and come along for the ride. 

This video is part two of a conversation that Attorney Robert Wood had with Jan Schlichtmann while at the WTLA CLE meeting in Scottsdale a few months back. This is an excellent discussion on 468b trusts, their use in settlements, their practical application for structured settlement professionals and others. I'll be posting the second part of the interview later this weekend. Note, the first couple of minutes discusses the Murphy vs IRS decision, so if that case doesn't interest you, skip ahead about 3 minutes to the start of the discussion on 468b trusts.

In some interesting news for the settlement community it was announced today that Liberty Mutual of Boston, MA had bid for and has an agreement to purchase Safeco Corp. The purchase which will be a combination of cash and debt issued by Liberty, a mutual company, is valued at $6.2 billion and will represent the second major purchase by Liberty in the last year.

This is a deal that makes a great deal of sense in that Liberty is primarily focused on East coast markets and Safeco is a major player in the Rocky Mountain region and Pacific Northwest. Safeco has languished with a low stock market valuation for some time now and this is on it's face a very good deal both for Liberty and for Safeco stockholders.

In the settlement world it consolidates one more casualty market under the Liberty umbrella and there will be some re-ordering of the settlement firms who handle the account for Safeco i'm sure once this is done.

This deal does not impact Symetra, the spin off from Safeco that is an independent operating entity and life market that has it's own structured settlement operation. I'm always amazed by the number of people who still think Symetra is a Safeco subsidiary when in fact that relationship ended some time ago.

You can read more about the deal by clicking this link to the Wall Street Journal. 

At the NSSTA convention in La Jolla, CA this week the long awaited Joe Jamail videos were unveiled for the membership. These video podcasts, which are available for viewing by going to the NSSTA web site, The Legal Broadcast Network or at Speaking of Settlements multi-media site are some of the single most powerful endorsements of structured settlements by one of the nations leading trial lawyers.

 

Joe Jamail, famous for his multi-billion dollar verdict in the Pennzoil vs Texaco case, is a passionate advocate for the use of structured settlements in protecting the money awarded injured plaintiffs. This first video podcast, in which he is interviewed by Attorney Rick Kuykendall, is of vital importance to trial lawyers as Jamail focuses on the lawyers responsibility to educate and inform their client about the right to structure their award. In some of the companion video Attorney Jamail will even go to the point of telling other trial lawyers that failure to recommend and educate a client about the option to structure is tantamount to legal malpractice.

Make sure you view this video and give me your feed back on it. There will be a companion consumer piece coming out shortly as well as the ability for NSSTA members to access the entire Jamail speeches to the NSSTA membership and his full interview with LBN.

This is an important first step by the structured settlement industry to combat the million dollar advertising machines employed by other firms to minimize the value of a structured settlement. As more video's and material are put online we as a profession can begin to reclaim the term "structured settlements" from the factoring and financial community that often don't have our clients best interests at heart.  

View the entire video of Joe Jamail discussing structured settlements by clicking the TV box or this link. Joe Jamail personifies Texas Trial Lawyer but more then that he personifies what a trial lawyer should be in advocating the right solutions to protect his clients.  

Each week I like to highlight and post the featured podcast over at The Legal Broadcast Network and this week we have a truly big name in John Grisham. While not specifically on legal topics, but more on his political views regarding Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, it's still a really good podcast and an indication of what LBN is doing lately. Watch for a lot more interviews just like this one, plus the roll out of our daily video podcasts as well.  

In today's Speaking of Justice, the daily legal broadcast and interview segment featured exclusively on The Legal Broadcast Network, one of the most acclaimed and widely read authors in the world, John Grisham,  joins Scott Drake for a conversation that is somewhat of a departure from his standard "book tour" interview. 

John Grisham spends a good part of his time with us talking about his support for Hillary Clinton's run for the Presidency, his long friendship with the Clinton's and his views as to why he feels she is the strongest candidate to lead the Democratic Party to victory in November. As most of his fan's know, and even others who might not have read his books but who have seen the movie adaptations, Grisham is a former trial lawyer himself, a man who ran for political office back before his writing career took off, and his thoughts on exactly why he believes so strongly in her candidacy should be of interest to his fans, and to political types who are fascinated with the epic electoral battle between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama.

John Grisham doesn't grant a lot of interviews and we are pleased he took the time to join The Legal Broadcast Network for this enjoyable and revealing conversation where fan's of the author of such best sellers as The Appeal,  The Innocent Man, The Broker, The Last Juror, The King of Torts and The Client, can get a glimpse into the political beliefs and theories of this intriguing author.

While LBN doesn't cover politics on a regular basis, we definitely discuss political issues, the views of trial lawyers and opinion makers in the law, and this is a really enjoyable, insightful podcast that will appeal to Democrats who are looking at the choice between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama and are interested why John Grisham is convinced that Hillary Clinton is the best choice for her party. He also discusses why the idea of a Clinton/Obama ticket doesn't look like a winner in his eyes and the importance of a candidate having been in the arena and tested the way Hillary Clinton has so they are fully able to compete in a national campaign in November. Just a really solid podcast.

You can listen to the entire podcast with John Grisham by clicking here.

Or you can go to the audio player at the bottom of this post which links to the Speaking of Justice video archive and listen to the entire John Grisham interview by clicking the player.  

Also, if you want to know more about John Grisham, you can click this link and go to his official page at Random House which has all of his books, his bio and other information you might want on this author.

These interviews and the expanded coverage you are seeing from The Legal Broadcast Network are just the "toe in the water" of what is going to be a dramatic expansion over the next few months to a full video, daily broadcast platform with radio podcasts, video news and interviews ,as well as in depth writing and discussion for attorney's , law students, judges and others intrigued by the law. Also, don't forget to check out our beta test page for Speaking of Justice, the new social/professional network for attorneys that will feature all of our video, audio, blog posts, discussion boards and social networks. Just one more tool for you to use being brought to you by The Legal Broadcast Network.  

 

Next week in La Jolla the National Structured Settlement Trade Association will be holding their annual meeting, at which officers and board members are elected for the coming year, or years. Our industry is at an important crossroads and is moving a new generation of leadership into key positions in our association. While I appreciate a lot of the work done by "the old guard" of the industry I firmly believe that fresh thinking, innovative people are needed to both energize our industry and association so that it can get off the sales plateau and same old, same old approach that has characterized much of what has passed for leadership in the past.

Toward that end I am strong encouraging our readers to vote for Robin Young in next weeks election of board members.

One of the oldest maxims in the business world is that if you want something to get done, find a busy person to do it, and Robin Young is exceptionally busy with her professional and personal interests. The point being that people who are busy and have a broad range of interests and professional involvements tend to be well organized, committed to excellence and highly professional in how they represent themselves and their clients. All you need to do is check out Robin's web site to learn more about her practice, the approach she takes in handling cases and dealing with injury victims. Our industry needs dynamic, balanced advocates to promote structured settlements and the broader issues we increasingly deal with. Robin has demonstrated that commitment to her clients and to our association and I think would be an excellent choice for our board. I applaud anyone who takes the time and effort to run for a board position or leadership at NSSTA, but even more so the producers in the field who take time away from income producing opportunities or family to give their time and interest to our association.

Make sure you are there for her talk to the membership next week in La Jolla and make up your own mind, but to my mind our association and industry will be stronger as a result of her being on the board for NSSTA and I encourage you to vote for her and support her candidacy.  

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements we have two podcasts we want to highlight.

The first is a short 10 minute piece that we did with Stan Harlan and Chris Harlan of Summit Settlements in which we covered what is going on with one of the industry's top five general agents and their plans for growth in the coming year. As you might know, Summit has been around for over 18 years and has gone through an evolutionary process of being a primarily defense oriented firm to one that has a eclectic mix of defense brokers, plaintiff firms and other entities that work both plaintiff and defense. 

As Stan explains in this podcast, Summit is continuing to evolve and grow as the industry changes, but regardless of the changes in structured settlements his firm will stick to it's core model of exceptionally high commission pay out's to competent and experienced settlement professionals who are running their own branded settlement firms.

Click here to listen to the entire podcast and learn more about what is going on at Summit Settlements.