Mark Wahlstrom's Settlement Channel Blog

Former Toyota counsel Dimitrios Biller on his knowledge of potential fraud on acceleration issue

2010-03-12T00:40:16Z

Former Toyota lawyer and in house counsel Dimitrios Biller joins Scott Drake on Speaking of Justice to outline the explosive revelations he shared with Congressional committee’s regarding Toyota’s alleged cover up of it’s sudden acceleration problems in their cars. This interview, direct with one of Toyota’s key insiders looks at how he was paid in his own words, “Hush Money” to keep quiet about the information he had on what appears to be a long standing problem with Toyota vehicles, sudden acceleration and car crashes. Dimitrios Biller, Former Toyota counsel

While Mr. Biller has been on Fox, CNN and other major channels today, I think you will find our exclusive interview with him to be one of the most intriguing looks at this major news story from a legal perspective. This is an interview that pulls no punches, looks at Toyota’s culture and management and raises troubling questions about how they have managed this problem internally from a legal standpoint.

If you are a lawyer handling Toyota crash claims, a journalist covering the Toyota sudden acceleration story or just a consumer who owns a Toyota and wants to know what is going on, you owe it to yourself to watch this exclusive interview on the Toyota sudden acceleration case, the alleged cover up and what comes next for this whistleblower who will certainly be under intense scrutiny regarding his claims, evidence and allegations against one of the worlds largest and most powerful corporations.

We at Legal Broadcast Network are pleased to bring you this exclusive interview with Attorney Dimitrios Biller and hope that if you are a new viewer of our content and shows, this will give you a reason to come back more often. All of our content and shows are original, exclusive and are featuring the lawyers and experts who are at the very center of the major cases, lawsuits and decisions that shape our society. If you have a case, a story or verdict you think would be of interest to our national and international audience of lawyers, journalists and others, be sure to contact our studio and let us know.

Liberty Life, a leader in a wide range of structured legal fees

2010-03-10T19:12:06Z

In this week’s edition of Speaking of Settlements I continue my month long series on structured legal fees, or structured attorney fees, by looking at the Liberty Life program.

Liberty Life is a subsidiary of the well known multi-line casualty group, Liberty Mutual Group, and is one of the leaders in both taxable and non-taxable structured settlements. As a result of this expertise in both areas of structures, Liberty is in the unique position of being one of only two major life markets that allow lawyers to structure their legal fees on both taxable and non-taxable damage cases.

As you will learn in the video, Liberty Life allows for a wide range of options on their structured legal fees, among them are:

It is the position of Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston to use a non-qualified assignment on all legal fee structures, thus they utilize an NQAR as their assignment document.
They will write stand-alone attorney fees arising from both qualified and non-qualified settlements. The attorney fee structure must be written into the settlement agreement.
Payment modes permitted are the same as standard periodic payments with the exception of Joint & Survivor.
Rated ages are not available for attorney.
Commuted value at death is available for attorney.
Beneficiary changes are allowed for the attorney if included in the settlement agreement.
The payee may be the law firm and the beneficiary would be the successor of the firm.
Required documentation includes: W-4P if withholding is requested, a W-9 if paying the law firm, and a Hold Harmless Agreement.

Also, as a point of clarification on the video please note that in the video I mention a few items that could use greater amplification, among them is that Liberty Mutual Group has been in business since 1912, rather then the “decades or hundreds of years” I casually stated. It just seems like hundreds of years, right?

Also, BARCO is not a subsidiary of Liberty Life, but a special purpose corporation based in Barbados, that Liberty Life works with or uses to facilitate non-qualified assignments, such as those used in structured legal fees.

With those points tucked away in the back of your mind, jump into today’s Speaking of Settlements and learn how Liberty Life works with lawyers all over the country to assist them in structuring their legal fees on a wide range of cases. If you want to learn more about structured legal fee cases and your options, feel free to contact the annuity expert, Mark Wahlstrom, at www.wahlstromandassociates.com

Allstate Financial structured legal fees, a unique approach

2010-03-08T17:36:48Z

In today's segment of Speaking of Settlements, I review the Allstate Financial structured legal fee, or structure attorney fee, program and several of the elements that make it so unique in the structured settlement industry.

First, Allstate is the originator of the non-qualified structured settlement, which in and of itself is a very unique distinction. Non-qualified refers to the fact that it is for taxable damage cases as opposed to tax free damage cases, or those covered under IRC section 104(a)(2). Several years back Allstate pioneered the development of being able to structure, or spread out, taxable damage awards over time and while they earned interest and remain one of the leaders in this major area of litigation. The Allstate International Assignments special purpose corporation, formed to handle these unique transactions, remains one of the leaders in this area nationally.

Allstate's expertise in this area has also spilled over to the structured legal fees, where they are one of the very few life insurance companies that are willing to structure fees on both taxable and non-taxable damage cases, a fact that greatly expands the potential cases an attorney can defer and plan around. As you will see in this video, or by visiting the Allstate International Assignments web page, the underwriting restrictions are relatively modest and what you'd expect to see in these transactions, and cover a wide range of structured legal fee cases. A quick summary would include:

1. Allstate will do stand alone structured legal fees on both taxable and non-taxable cases.

2. Allstate requires a hold harmless letter and the beneficiary option selected is irrevocable under current standards, something to keep in mind.

3. Allstate will pay to the individual attorney or a partnership, but will not pay structured legal fees on referral fees for attorney's on a case.

In short, as with all structured legal attorney fees, you need to work with a trained, competent structured settlement expert that has all available markets, current underwriting requirements and is able to match up your needs and situation to the right company. However, for taxable damage cases where lawyers have here to fore not thought of structuring their fee, this program opens up some amazing options for tax deferral, retirement planning and cash flow planning for lawyers and partnerships in a wide range of cases.

To learn more about structured legal fees or to view more of this series, go to Mark Wahlstrom's web page at www.wahlstromandassociates.com.

Are annuities being overhyped?

2010-02-24T19:20:08Z

This question was asked in a recent Wall Street Journal article authored by writers Anne Turgesen and Leslie Scism, with the theme being that the recent news of promotion of annuities by the Obama administration is turning into marketing bonanza for life insurance agents that could harm some investors.

A link to the full WSJ article is available by clicking here.

While I feel the headline was a little extreme, the premise of their story is dead on. That being that a rush to move people into fixed rate, immediate income annuities at the current historically low rates is going to hurt a lot of people long term when rates and inflation inevitably rise over the next 3 to 7 years.

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, I discuss this dilemma, which is faced by structured settlement experts such as myself on a daily basis. We all know that current interest rates are historically very low and will certainly go up over the next few years, but investors, savers or injury victims need to make decisions TODAY on whether or not immediate annuity income makes sense for them right now.

This will be part of a recurring series of conversations I will be having on the ideas and strategies for those looking to use annuities to fund or finance retirement, care plans, settlement plans and other conservative income strategies using insurance company products.

Supreme Court asks Obama administration to weigh in on Johnson & Johnson kickback scheme

2010-02-23T19:40:57Z

Early today the US Supreme Court requested that the Solicitor General file a brief in the case of ORTHO BIOTECH PRODUCTS, L.P. V. UNITED STATES, EX REL. DUXBURY.

A copy of the order is available here.

This case, as outlined in todays Wall Street Journal law column, and also discussed on The SCOTUS Blog, is about the desire by Johnson & Johnson to get clarity on some technical questions related to the False Claims Act, or Qui Tam law, and hopefully spike one of the largest whistleblower cases in US history if it proceeds ahead to trial.

(Full disclosure, two of the principals of The Legal Broadcast Network, Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and Mark Wahlstrom are involved in this case as lead counsel and consultant to the litigation group.)

This case, which has been previously covered by The Wall Street Journal, and was thought to be dead thanks to a lower court ruling, was brought back to life by the US Court of Appeal in August and is now being aggressively argued on both sides as the relators in the case continue to press for trial so the full extent of the alleged scheme of rebates, kickbacks and illegal payments can be exposed, accounted for and the taxpayers reimbursed for the billions in alleged over charges.

On today's Speaking of Justice, lead attorney Jan Schlichtmann joins Scott Drake to discuss today's ruling by the Supreme Court, the implications on the case and the next steps for the whistleblowers as they continue to press the US government to join this case. Estimates of the over charges are between $3 billion and $10 billion and you would think with healthcare and government control of expenses being a hot political item, that the Obama Justice Department will be carefully watched as to how they approach this potentially huge case.

Structured legal fees, profile of the John Hancock program

2010-02-19T23:02:42Z

In the first of our 10 part series on structured legal fees, I am profiling the John Hancock structured attorney fee program on today's Speaking of Settlements. As part of this series we will be providing, thanks to the assistance of the marketing staff at John Hancock structured settlements division, links to some of the information on structured legal fees and how they work.

As you will note in this series, I am attempting to outline the key elements of each companies offerings on the video so that trial lawyers, tax attorney's, CPA's and planners can know more about the amazing benefits of structured attorney fees. As this information illustrates it allows attorneys to defer income into future tax years, secure it with top rated companies, obtain competitive returns on the funds while it accumulates and pay for as long as they live, pay to their spouse or even to their partnership. John Hancock Tower, Boston, MA

It is my goal by the end of this series of programs on each of the life markets to drive home to the trial lawyer and tax professionals the importance of using this benefit for retirement and cash flow planning using structured legal fee programs.

The following material is available on these links:

Who do you trust? A brochure on John Hancock.

John Hancock structured legal fees brochures.

If you have questions on this series and you are an attorney or tax professional, feel free to contact Mark Wahlstrom at Wahlstrom & Associates in Scottsdale, AZ.

Treasury Regulation hearings next week on IRC section 104(a)(2)

2010-02-18T17:42:11Z

In today's edition of Speaking of Settlements I am joined by Jack Meligan, the President of SPI and former President of the SSP, to discuss the up coming hearings with Treasury on February 23rd on the clarifications regarding IRC section 104(a)(2). Mark Wahlstrom

These hearings are one of the first real reviews of the foundational tax code upon which the structured settlement industry is based, that being the exclusion from taxation of injuries caused as a result of personal physical injury. These hearings were originally scheduled to discuss expansions of that definition and modifications of the language, primarily to make clear the tax status of cases such as sexual abuse, wrongful imprisonment, illness caused by a hostile work environment, etc.

However, now an attempt is being made to raise the issue of 468B single claimant cases as part of the hearing, prompting a scramble by the various associations and interested parties to respond to the questions raised by this request.

Jack Meligan discusses his perspective on the always contentious single claimant 468B trust issue as part of this podcast, as well as raising awareness of the hearings and the issues to be discussed. Regardless of where you are on the politics and implications of this, you will want to watch the outcome of these hearings as they have a substantial impact on our profession, the definitions of what is a taxable damage situation and whether there will ever be clarity on the topic of 468B trusts.

Month long series on structured legal fees

2010-02-15T21:42:23Z

This month on Speaking of Settlements, I will be doing a review of each of the life insurance companies that underwrite or offer structured legal fees, or structured attorney fees. The review will cover the following life insurance markets:

American General
Symetra Life
Liberty Life
New York Life
Prudential Insurance
Met Life
Pacific Life
John Hancock
Allstate Financial

As most structured settlement brokers or planners know, each company has it's own unique underwriting standards, types of business they write, beneficiary options, etc. It is important for lawyers, tax planners and others to be aware that not all legal fee structures are created equal and that the selection of working with a qualified structured settlement expert is essential.

This is a short edition of Speaking of Settlements, primarily to let people know to watch for our month long series on structured legal fees. This is crucial information heading into tax season and particularly as trial lawyers work to rebuild depleted or decimated retirement programs.

Annuities get big boost by Obama Administration

2010-01-31T19:43:41Z

Reports in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe this week drive home the message that the Obama administration has come to the conclusion that one of the easiest and most pragmatic ways to boost retirement savings and provide a more secure retirement income for American's is to encourage the use of annuities.

For those of us in the annuity business, particularly those of us who work in structured settlement annuities or work with lawyers on their pension plans, this comes as welcome news but no surprise as to the value of the annuity to lock in guaranteed income you can't outlive, out spend or dissipate.

As we all know, American's have been in the thrall of the real estate and investment business for the last 25 years and believed the numbers tossed around that 11% annual returns can be expected on equities long term or that no one ever lost money in real estate. As the last decade has shown, plenty of people can and do lose money in real estate and that while long term yields on equities over 50 years are quite predictable, 5 and 10 year periods can go negative much to the dismay of investors and advisers alike.

As someone who has been a proponent of balanced investing and the use of annuities for years, this welcome recognition by firms such as Putnam Investments and others that when it comes time to start retirement savings, that an annuity is typically the best option for people, is long over due.

Listen in to this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements to learn a bit more about the Putnam retirement Summit and get a handle on this sea change in how annuity contracts are perceived and used. As I have been predicting for over 18 months now, we are about to enter a golden age in the use of and appreciation for annuities for the vast majority of Americans and the sooner advisers, lawyers and others get a handle on this the quicker these amazing and fundamentally sound products will gain wider use and acceptance.

Net yields on structured settlements are highly competitive

2010-01-25T04:35:37Z

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, Mark Wahlstrom, the President of Wahlstrom & Associates discusses the recent article in the Wall Street Journals Intelligent Investor column by Jason Zweig on the Net-Net-Net returns on most investments.

I have discussed and linked to this article last week in another blog post, but the premise is that the vast majority of investors have exceptionally unrealistic expectations on what they can yield on most investments net of taxes, net of fees and commissions and net of inflation. After all of those elements are factored in the best that some of the most sophisticated investors in America would expect would be between .5% to 4% annually.

When compared to structured settlements yields, net of taxes, net of fee's and with inflation factors available for purchase on the contracts you have returns of 2% to 5% on many contracts even in today's low interest rate environment, but that return is going to go up even more as interest rates increase and tax rates climb as well.

Watch this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements on how to learn the accurate way to compare structured settlements against other investments and start educating clients on how competitive and effective our core product is for the vast majority of personal injury victims.