Protect Yourself and Take Control
Under the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Responsibility for attorneys, it is a conflict of interest when one person who has loyalty to one party is asked to be loyal also to another party whose interests are adverse to the first party’s interests. A defense-structured settlement broker who has loyalty to the self-insured defendant, or its insurer, cannot also be loyal to the plaintiff. It is a conflict of interest for that broker to provide financial advice and to handle the financial transactions on which the plaintiff may depend for many years, perhaps a lifetime. The conflict of interest is compounded by the fact that the defendant and his insurer, through the language in the settlement agreement, may obtain a complete release from the plaintiff, not only for themselves, but for all their agents, etc. – including the defense-structured settlement broker – for everything, and forever!
A plaintiff-structured settlement specialist, on the other hand, with a loyalty to the plaintiff, remains obligated to that plaintiff after the settlement, and potentially for their life!
Protect yourself and your client; have a plaintiff-structured settlement specialist in your corner!