Question of Risk.

As one of the few financial professionals in the settlement consulting market, I often find myself correcting misconceptions held by plaintiff attorneys and their clients. While I genuinely enjoy educating my clients, it’s disheartening when my advice is overlooked. As I’ve said before, “If you can find a more experienced financial settlement consultant, by all means, use them.”

For the tenth—and undoubtedly not the final—time, I implore plaintiff attorneys to include a broker mediation addendum in all of your mediation agreements. Neglecting to do so could result in significant financial losses for your clients. A striking example is the recent trend in bond interest rates.

In just the past two months, the 10-year Treasury rate has dropped by 66 basis points. This decline has cost a client over $300,000.00 in guaranteed returns over a forty-year time horizon if they could not lock in rates in January. I implore you to take this issue under serious consideration

The defense's demand that funding will happen only after court approval is a weak argument. I have never seen a judge decline the use of a structured settlement. If a judge should decline the use of a structured settlement, the funds are returned to the defense insurance carrier. The only person hurt by not demanding the use of a broker addendum be part of the mediation agreement is?

The injured client.

If you would like a copy of a broker addendum, please reach out to me at [email protected].