The Risk to Attorneys of Not Having a Settlement Planner
By neglecting to recommend that your client discuss their pending settlement, and the settlement options available to meet their needs with a plaintiff-loyal settlement planner, you, as their attorney, may be exposing yourself to legal malpractice liability.
In recent court decisions like Macomber v. Travelers Property & Casualty Corp. and Lyons v. Medical Malpractice Insurance Assoc. plaintiff attorneys have been sued for the harm sustained by their clients at the hands of the defense-provided structured settlement brokers. For Reference See: Plaintiff Attorneys Exposed to Claims by Their Clients (PDF document).
Not surprisingly, the courts have found plaintiff attorneys liable because the defense-provided structured settlement brokers owed no duty to the plaintiff or his/her attorney. A defense-provided or “approved” structured settlement broker really only has one function— to reduce the defense insurance company’s cost of settlement at your client’s expense. That function is obviously at odds with your function, and can put you in the line of malpractice fire.
At this point, you might be thinking that the problems associated with a defense provided structured settlement broker can be eliminated by simply “cashing out” and not offering a structured settlement to your client. That is true; however, the dangers of not offering a structured settlement can be every bit as dangerous as relying on the defense. In fact, Plaintiff attorneys have also been sued for failing to offer their clients a structured settlement. Most notably in the case of Grillo v. Henry an attorney and a guardian ad litem allegedly ignored a structured settlement offer and were sued by their former client. The attorney and ad litem settled the case for $1.6 million and $2.5 million, respectively.
The best way to help insulate you from liability and protect your clients’ interests during the financial aspects of your cases is to retain your own plaintiff-loyal Settlement Planner. The Settlement Planner can explain the pros and cons of all options, including whether to structure the settlement to meet certain fixed and determinable needs. This way, your client makes an informed, educated decision with the help of an expert qualified to give the advice. And you avoid giving your clients financial advice, for which you probably don’t have professional liability insurance.
Contact us to discuss how we can protect your clients and help limit your liability. Let SPI become your firewall for the financial aspect of your cases.
