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The Legal Broadcast Network is the nations first broadcast and news service for trial lawyers. This joint venture between Mark Wahlstrom and famed Civil Action Attorney Jan Schlichtmann, was launched in 2004 and has under gone continuous updates and growth since then.

Effective January 2006 you can subscribe via RSS feed and receive the LBN blog content, audio podcasts of Civil Action Radio and other featured shows, as well as Video Podcasts of legal and settlement industry events such as ATLA meetings, Mass Torts Made Perfect, NSSTA conventions and SSP meetings.

 

Tuesday
06Oct2009

New Address and Phone number for Wahlstrom & Associates

Please note that effective 10-01-09 that Wahlstrom & Associates has two phone numbers which may be used to reach our office:

 

The first is 800-444-5924, our existing number will be pointing to our new offices.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Our 800 number has been "ported" or pointed to our disconnected line by the phone company. Hopefully this will be corrected by close of business on October 7th, 2009. In the mean time please contact us on our direct office line at 480-478-0183

 

The second number is 480-478-0183.

 

Our new Fax number is 480-478-0626.

 

Please note our new and permanent address is now

7701 East Gray Road, Unit 103

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

 

 

Saturday
08Aug2009

Cash is King, structured settlement income has amazing value

In this edition of Speaking of Settlements, Mark Wahlstrom, the President of Wahlstrom and Associates and the host of The Settlement Channel, discusses the economic downturn, unemployment and financial uncertainty related to JOBS and why guaranteed income and cash has never been more important for families.

One of the greatest mistakes plaintiffs, injury victims and trial lawyers make it to assume they will always be able to generate a secure, sufficient income through their employments, a wifes job, investment income or other sources. The sad fact is that other then a social security check and some pensions from blue chip employers are the only guaranteed monthly income anyone really has, particularly in a market with depressed interest rates, rising unemployment, under employment and sharply lower savings and retirement accounts.

The structured settlement annuity, when issued by a large, responsible life insurance company has proven over 30 years to be the single most effective means of providing stable, guaranteed, tax free income for injury victims, their families and increasingly for lawyers themselves who need to defer taxes and guarantee income to fund their law practices.

Check out this weeks Speaking of Settlements and remind your clients again why the structured settlement is usually the single most effective means of protecting your clients long term financial health.

Friday
13Mar2009

China is "worried" about US Treasury bond investments. Should you be too?

Well, we knew this was coming but today's pronouncement by the premier of China, Wen Jiabao that he is "worried" about the amount of US debt that China holds and it's value in the face of the current economic melt down is the first big warning shot to the Obama administration. Wen Jiabao, Premier of China

Many commentators, investment firms and others have long been warning that China would not tolerate for long the financial misadventures of the US Congress and our exploding deficits if it threatened the viability and stability in pricing of US Treasury's held by China.

Premier Jiabao said " We have lent a huge amount of money to the US. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried."

Lets just say that China has now officially let it be known that the massive bailout, spending and stimulus program embarked on in the first 50 days of the Obama administration has got it more then a little concerned, as they realize that even more Treasury paper will be flooding the credit markets and that the US has become a debtor nation.

The implications of this policy are laid out in two excellent articles today.

One in the NY Times.

One in the Wall Street Journal.

What this means to the financial markets, tax payers and others is that much as the loan sharks send Vinnie the collector over to your place of business to remind you that Friday is pay day and that they expect you to be on time, China has now sent a clear message to the US that the orgy of spending and printing of money is going to come at a huge cost.

That cost is China and many of the middle east oil producing companies are going to be directing, through the pressure they exert as a major lender, the direction and priorty of US fiscal policy and that our nation is now vulnerable to economic blackmail from countries that are not our friends.

The implications for us are that we as a nation have got to pare back debt, pare back foolish spending, start investing in real businesses, technology and processess that create real wealth and value or we are looking at an extended period of economic decline or malaise as a country. Both parties have their hands all over this deal and it will fall not on political leadership but individual citizens and business people to set the course straight again.

Keep your powder dry, your assets in safe and secure places, invest in your business and educations and spend wisely. It's going to be a new world order and the US and it's citizens just got a glimpse of it this morning.

As settlement planners our focus will continue to be on safety, quality of assets, fixed and floating yield annuity products and assisting clients with protecting their settlement awards and assets.

Tuesday
10Mar2009

Major one day seminar on 468b trusts and qualified settlement funds

As many of our news letter readers already know, there is going to be a major seminar held here in Phoenix, AZ on April 17th, hosted by the Tax Institute and featuring national tax expert Attorney Robert W. Wood on the topic of 468b trusts and Qualified Settlement Funds.

This event will be held at the beautiful Phoenix Marriott, literally 3 minutes from the Sky Harbor terminals and strategically planned to allow for either a quick and economical same day fly in to attend, or a quality weekend stay over if you want to enjoy some sunshine and fun a couple of days after April 15th.

The text book, which is included in the CE/CLE cost is 468b trusts and qualified settlement funds, authored by Attorney Robert W. Wood of Wood & Porter of San Francisco, CA. It is published by the highly regarded Tax Institute and is an exceptional resource. I've got a copy and it's about the size of the Gutenberg Bible and almost as authoritative! It covers every tax, regulator and procedural aspect of 468b trusts, qualified settlements funds and their use in both qualified and non-qualified cases. There is no finer expert then Robert Wood, he already wrote the text book used in most law and tax curriculums on taxable damage issues and now has written what I predict will become the standard of practice on 468b trusts.

What makes this seminar so unique is it is open to trial lawyers, tax lawyers and professionals, elder law and probate attorneys as well as structured settlement and life insurance company personnel. Perhaps no area of the settlement and legal profession holds more promise then the broad application of these trust, while at the same time facing unneccessary resistance as a result of a standard of how taxes and process is handled to make them understood to the every day planner, attorney or tax professional.

Listen to what the Tax Institute has to say about 468b trusts and Qualified Settlement funds:

"Qualified Settlement Funds (QSFs) are tax qualified trusts for litigation settlement proceeds. They are easy to set up, and offer unparalleled tax and structural benefits. Defendants get an immediate tax deduction and full release, but plaintiffs can defer their income, structure their recovery, etc. They are revolutionizing case settlements, from complex class actions to mom & pop litigation.

Plaintiffs love QSFs, for they can determine when and how to be paid, structure, cash or both.

Defendants love QSFs, for they get their tax deductions immediately!

Plaintiff Lawyers love QSFs, for they can structure their fees, or get paid immediately, even while their clients are still negotiating.

Settlement Administrators love QSFs, which are orderly, tax qualified, and advance settlement goals."

What this is NOT is a seminar on single claimant cases but a truly thoughtful look at the tremendous opportunity to revolutionize and improve the management of a huge area of litigation and settlements!

Featured speakers will of course be Attorney Robert W. Wood on the tax and procedural issues, famed environmental and Civil Action attorney Jan Schlichtmann on how the use of 468b trusts has revolutionized his environmental law practice, Mark Wahlstrom of Wahlstrom and Associates on the key planning and structured settlement opportunities for settlement professionals as well as other experts and providers who will be there for the breakfast, lunch and social hour functions that will give people an exceptional opportunity to network and meet other professionals who are working in this exciting area of settlement planning.

This is event is currently submitting for both CLE and CE credits and is being produced and filmed by The Legal Broadcast Network and it's production arm, LB Network Studios. This is going to be a high value, time and cost efficient event that can dramatically improve your practice and is open to everyone, from defense firms to plaintiff practices and all other disciplines.

You can learn more by going to the event page on The Tax Law Channel or at the LB Network blog where we will profile the speakers, give links to the hotel, contact information for Attorney Rob Wood and answer most of your questions on this event. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday
14Jan2009

Factoring and structured settlements.

A few weeks back Earl Nesbitt, the general counsel for NASP, the National Association of Settlement Purchasers joined Mark Wahlstrom at the LB Network studios while in Phoenix for a judicial education conference.

As anyone who does any work in the structured settlement market knows, the impact of factoring companies such as J.G. Wentworth, Peachtree Funding and others in advertising to annuity holders to "get cash now"has been a major concern of NSSTA and others. We have entire blogs and private initiatives that attempt to address the key word purchase price inflation these companies cause for topics such as structured settlements, settlement planning and structured annuity. A quick scan of Google shows that those terms alone are among the most valuable on the internet, largely because of the huge margins a factoring company can make on the purchase of someone's future payments. I, as much as anyone, am aware of the fact that these terms have been usurped by factoring firms through this saturation of advertising to the point where many legislative and judicial leaders consider the factoring firms "the structured settlement industry" and not NSSTA and it's supporters.

However, as my readers and viewers know i'm actually quite neutral on the issue of factoring, particularly in light of the fact that it is legal, has a clearly defined process that is required to get it done and in a large number of cases is a result of lazy or careless planning by the annuity broker who sold it to the client with little thought toward their cash needs.

This two part interview with Earl Nesbitt goes into a lot of those issues, particularly advertising, the idea of judicial education on factoring process and cooperation between the primary and secondary markets. If you are curious as to what N.A.S.P is up to, what the factoring industry has planned given the recent turmoil in credit markets and the future of factoring issues, you might want to check out this video series.

I will be addressing in some length later this week the topic of NSSTA and it's minuscule investment in advertising, marketing and education, particularly in contrast to the aggressive approach taken by the secondary market. Unless the leaders of our profession had failed to notice, J.G. Wentworth, Peachtree and others are essentially crippled at the moment by the collapse of their banking, hedge fund and secondary market sales options. NOW is the time for NSSTA and it's members to commence judicial education on structured settlements, the value of annuity products, the safety of what we offer and why responsible factoring has a role in our industry. Now is the time to build bridges, move past our battles of the last five years and grow our business and part of that is going to be getting off the factoring company bashing routine that has been the primary focus of our profession for many years now.

Lets get proactive and start selling our product and it's virtues, reclaim the brand now that the factoring companies have fewer dollars to advertise, lobby and influence buyers and get out of the fox hole and build our profession.

Monday
08Dec2008

Structured settlements, the right choice

In an earlier blog post I tossed out the concept of The Golden Age of structured settlements, and how I believe we are about to enter a period of incredible growth in the settlement profession. I got such an exceptional response to that blog post that I took the time to create a two part video presentation on the topic of the future of the structured settlement profession, settlement planning and the need for structured settlement annuity contracts for injured plaintiffs.

This two part edition of "Speaking of Settlements" goes into that post and the theory of a coming boom in structured settlements in greater detail. Obviously I'd like you to view the videos, but if you want the short hand argument as to why I think we are about to see a surge, the five points are as follows:

1. Tax rates are about to rise given the government deficit and Democratic control of the House, Senate and White house. High tax rates make tax free annuity payments such as offered under structured settlements more attractive and as such we will see a relative advantage to using tax free annuity payments over alternative investments that don't enjoy the same tax status.

2. Interest rates are going to rise substantially over the next 3 years as the massive government debt leads to inevitable declines in the value of the dollar and relative increases in interest rates on debt obligations. Again, when compared to alternative investments such as bonds and bank CD's, the high rate of return on structured settlement annuities will compare favorably with other choices that lawyers and plaintiffs have before them, making the structured annuity a favored choice for many.

3. Life insurance companies are going to come out of this financial crisis as one of the few entities that didn't fail and in fact stood strong during the turmoil. The performance of structured settlements in this crisis is going to contrast very favorably with money market funds, banks, stock brokerage and mutual funds, not to mention real estate. People will begin to realize the superior safety of life insurance companies which is going to make our selling job easier when we discuss safety, stability, etc. All one needs to do is look at the 100% gain in the price of Hartford Life's stock last week in a single day once it became clear the insurance industry is still making money, is not going to vanish and that the major life markets such as Met Life, John Hancock, Genworth, Prudential, Hartford and others are not going away, but in fact are going to get stronger. Even AIG looks to be a candidate for a successful work out at this point.

4. Tort reform is dead as a political issue on both the national and state level, which will ultimately lead to a stronger settlement market. The distraction of tort reform, the heavy handed claims and litigation tactics and other clubs used to push people into smaller settlements, poison jurys and reduce the number of cases filed will slowly begin to receed. Nothing huge at first but the pendulum that swung so far to the right over the last 10 years will begin to swing back to the middle as the political climate shifts to a more pro-plaintiff market.

5. The Structured Settlement industry cartel is in it's last days as the information age sweeps over our business and creates greater awareness of pricing, negotiation and access to markets by consumers looking to decide how to settle their claims. The last 25 years has seen complete dominance by defense interests and a few powerful brokers that limited information, access and entry to the structured settlement business. I can't think of any other major financial market that is so totally insulated and sheltered from outside competition, however, with the information age, the intrusion of other financial professionals and increased sophistication of consumers is going to continue to force greater transparency and cooperation on our business.

Take a look at both segments of Structured settlements, the coming Golden Age and watch for some other big news this week related to new marketing opportunities about to be made available to structured settlement professionals nationwide.

Friday
05Sep2008

Vioxx settlement Checks, where are they and what should you do with them?

One of the biggest questions on the minds of desperate and exhausted Vioxx claimants is when will the endless process of determining value on the settlement wind up and when can they expect their checks. In this video Mark Wahlstrom discusses the options and current situation facing Vioxx plaintiffs and others who took the Merck manufactured drug and had their lives altered permanently as a result of a stroke or a heart attack.

In addition to being one of the nations premier experts in settlement planning and using structured settlements, Mark Wahlstrom is also the host of the Settlement Channel, and in this weekly broadcast attempts to answer some of the basic issues on the minds of Vioxx claimants. What are these letters they are receiving from their lawyers, what settlement options do they have, what decisions do they need to make right now and how do they plan to use their settlement funds wisely.

Listen to this 8 minute broadcast to get up to speed on the Vioxx settlement and your settlement options.

Wednesday
03Sep2008

Vioxx claimants. What do you need to know right now?

In this video Mark Wahlstrom outlines the current choices facing Vioxx claimants who are receiving letters from their lawyers as to their options for settlement, how to preserve medicaid benefits or other governmental assistance or how to go about obtaining a structured settlement program with their payment.

If you are a Vioxx claimant and wondering what you should do with your funds or how to protect your financial situation this is a must view video for you.

Tuesday
02Sep2008

Vioxx claimants, it's time to make your decision.

If you are a Vioxx claimant or have been notified by mail or phone call that you will be receiving an award from the Vioxx settlement fund, you have a very short window of time to make your decision as to whether or not you want to take your payments over time using a structured settlement annuity. Here are the simple steps of the decision process you need to take right now for Wahlstrom and Associates to assist you in that decision:

1. Make sure you have your letter from your law firm or lawyer confirming that you have been awarded an amount in the settlement. We will need to know your lawyers name, the office location and what dates they have given you to get your letter back to them as to your decision.

2. Determine if you are on medicaid or medicare for your health insurance. One of the most important areas to plan around is potential liens on your settlement or to avoid being disqualified from future medicaid benefits. Please let us know right away if you are on either medicare of medicaid!

3. Accurate information about you, your family and your planning needs. Are you retired? Are you on a pension? Does your spouse work or is your spouse potentially on medicare or medicaid as well? All of these questions will need to be asked.

4. What are your immediate cash needs. What bills have mounted up or need to be paid right away. If you decide to structure your payments you will certainly want some amount in cash so give our office some idea of what your immediate needs are.

5. What your future plans or income needs might be. We will assist you with this planning in our conversations.

Our office is open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm from now until September 19th to assist Vioxx claimants with their decision process. If you have trouble reaching us by telephone you can also reach us by email at mark@markwahlstrom.com.

This is an important one time decision as to what you should do with your Vioxx check so don't waste it by simply paying bills or spending it on items that you won't even need a few months later.

Invest that check, use it wisely and contact our office to assist you with this important planning.

Sunday
31Aug2008

Structured settlements, still your best option.

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, Mark Wahlstrom discusses the various options available to trial lawyers and their clients when deciding where to put their settlement proceeds. Over the last 30 years one choice has stood the test of time, a structured settlement, and with today's exceptionally unstable economy and week financial markets the structured settlement annuity looks better and better.

The fact is we are looking at a mortgage crisis that has caused massive instability in financial institutions in the US, with bank failures escalating sharply, real estate plunging in value, commercial lenders and brokerage houses scrambling for cash in the face of liquidity needs and plunging asset values, and now the looming monetary inflation that will pound long term bond holders.

In this video Mark goes over the benefits of a structured settlement annuity in these troubled times and compares it to most of the other financial options available to the average citizen attempting to use their settlement wisely.

Check out this video and watch for each weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements.

Sunday
27Jul2008

Internet marketing for structured settlement professionals

In the last month I had the opportunity to present twice on the idea of internet marketing and how lawyers and settlement professionals can start to get in the game. These video podcasts of my talk given back on June 6th, 2008 cover the basics of internet marketing and i'm providing the links here for those of you who want to view them.

Part one of Mark Wahlstrom's talk on Internet Marketing.

Part two of Mark Wahlstrom's talk on internet Marketing.

However, in today's blog post I want to talk about social and professional networks for attorneys and what they are. As many people who are on the cutting edge of marketing are aware, or if you have a child under the age of 24 who has a MySpace account, the explosion of social networks has turned into a tidal wave of activity for those of us interested in internet marketing. No other area of what is often called Web 2.0 has shown more growth, attracted more venture capital money and is of such keen interest to advertisers then social and professional networks. However, I also realize that most lawyers have no clue as to what a professional network is or why it is essential that they join one if they want to be viable on the internet.

The most familiar networks that people can join, such as MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin and Bebo, have drawn all the big boys of the media and internet world, with Rupport Murdoch buying MySpace as the signature example. Why are they attracting so much money and what are the implications for lawyers, financial experts and legal marketing firms who are spending their current money on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), buying banner ads, Google clicks or utilizing email campaigns? It's simple, the money goes where the people go and right now the audience is moving strongly to social and professional networking sites. The bottom line is that the world is moving in this direction and that it won't be long before having a professional networking profile will be as essential as an email address and web site are today.

What is social/professional networking you might ask? In it's simplest, and crudest form, just go over to Myspace.com and check out the biggest social network. Essentially it is the creation of a personal profile by opening up a free membership with Myspace, putting your photo on it and then filling out a questionnaire, putting links to your content and basically letting the world know who you are and what you are about. Simple, right? Well, the simplicity is the value of the network and the fact that it allows you to find "friends" with common interests or common social circles allows you to expand your network and raise your profile. Of course in the Myspace world that often means finding dates, activity partners and others, not necessarily professional clients.

Now in the social world that "raised profile" means more potential dates and friends, but in the professional world it means that people who are looking for someone with your expertise and talents, would be able to locate you through the network or search engine results, and therefore could potentially be a source of future business. The issue up until now has been whether or not  the average lawyer, financial guy or legal marketer wants to put themselves out on MySpace or Facebook which are generally seen more as dating and pop culture sites for the general public and therefore risk diminishing their professional image by being seen in "that club".

So how does a legal professional obtain the massive benefits and exposure of joining a social network with out all of the potential draw backs? It's a pretty simple solution in that you just start searching for networking sites that specialize in your profession. The problem with that is that most "networks" are on list servers for state trial lawyer groups or bar associations, which by their very nature end up being isolated behind a membership fire wall. They don't allow for creation of individual firm or attorney profiles, they don't promote your specialty areas and they really only function as a question and answer board using technology around since 1990. They are exceptionally limited and provide the lawyer with only one of the three features of a social network and that is the abiiity to speak with their peers. 

What The Legal Broadcast Network has come up with is our own professional network that attorneys, law students, law professors, paralegals, media professionals and others can join that will be filled with their peers and the type of media you have come to expect from our platform.

We have titled it The LB Network and you can find it by clicking here.

What you will find is our beta phase test of a professional media network for attorneys that is totally open for any lawyer, law student, judge, law professor, reporter or legal marketing expert to join. Once you join you can create your media profile, links to your law firm, publications, up load audio and video podcasts and develop a blog all for no cost. The value to you is the opportunity to raise your profile among lawyers, clients and potential clients. In short, it helps them find you, refer you and communicate with you in an immediate fashion that other internet marketing options don't provide.

As this is the first of a five part series on developing your media profile and starting your networking program, you need to make sure you are subscribing to my RSS feed so you can read the next few posts that will get into the details of social marketing for lawyers and why you need to be part of it. My next post on professional marketing will get into the development of a professional media profile and it's essential ingredients.
Sunday
27Jul2008

Final regulations on section 1.468b-6 trusts

On this weeks Speaking of Settlements, the weekly podcast feature of The Settlement Channel, I am joined once again by noted tax law attorney Robert Wood of the firm Wood & Porter of San Francisco, CA. The reason for having Rob back two weeks in a row is the news that the Treasury has issued final regulations on section 468B-6 trusts and I wanted to get copies and material to my audience as soon as possible.

Now, before anyone gets too excited, these regulations and final rules are NOT related to the more commonly discussed 468B trust that is used for litigation and mass torts. These rules are not related to those trusts or the pending issue before Treasury regarding the taxation of single claimant structures, as much as we would like to get that ruling after all these years of waiting.

No, this podcast is relative to the section of those trusts that govern a variety of other trusts, but specifically those related to section 1031 exchanges and the trust accounts used to manage those transactions. Now, before you go away and don't read this, keep in mind that Allstate Life has their structured sale product, which is a vital element of the 1031 fall back or fall out market so knowledge of these provisions is of keen interest if you are involved in that market.

I know it's a small niche as of yet, but a lot more producers should be looking at the 1031 fallback or fall out market as a means of getting into the structured sales arena. So take a few minutes, click on this link, and learn a little more about 468B-6 trusts and the new rules on section 1031 exchanges. 

You can also read more on these regulations and obtain a copy of this ruling by going over to The Tax Law Channel and looking for the pdf copy of the regulations.
Wednesday
16Jul2008

468b regulations that impact section 1031 like kind exchanges finally published

In some rare good news out of the US Treasury department we finally obtained new, final regulations on the application of IRC code section 1.469B-6 trusts. While at first read a lot of structured settlement professionals will be getting all excited and thinking that this is the long awaited ruling from Treasury on 468B qualified settlement funds and single claimant cases, it is in fact related to the issue of escrow accounts, trusts and other funds used during deferred exchanges, such as a section 1031 like-kind exchange.

However, while this is not really relevant to the mass tort and multi-claimant aspect of the structured settlement industry, it is of intense interest to the people over at Allstate and for those of us who are actively in the structured sales business. As we all know this area has languished as a result of a very slow build up in knowledge and familiarity with these annuities, but with a very likely capital gains tax increase on the horizon with the 2009 U.S. Congress the viability of tax deferral of capital asset sales using a structured sale annuity will be of far greater interest to tax payers and tax experts. 

The area of 1031 like kind exchanges is a further subset and niche in that market, but one with immense potential for those settlement professionals willing to invest the time, talent, marketing and process to make it a new line of business. My day job at Wahlstrom & Associates has been focused on this area for over two years and these clarifications should be welcome news in marketing to qualified intermediaries and others who inhabit the 1031 exchange world. 

I will be hosting Attorney Robert Wood, principal of Wood & Porter of San Francisco and the lead commentator on The Tax Law Channel, our newest channel here on LBN. If you want to know more about this ruling, obtain a pdf copy of it or investigate how you can start to work in this market, give me a call or send me an email after our podcast later this week. 

Again, it's not the long awaited 468b single claimant ruling, but it's almost as good if you are in the structured sales market. 
Thursday
03Jul2008

Rob Wood and Jan Schlichtmann on 468b trusts.

In part two of a podcast that Jan and Rob did while at the WTLA conference in Scottsdale, AZ we are part of an in depth discussion on the topic of 468b trusts. I know a lot of people ask me why I am such an advocate of these and my answer is that virtually no area of settlements is more wide open for growth then cases in which these are used. Now that I have LBN properly funded and staffed, your going to see a major expansion of the content and business focus of Wahlstrom & Associates, and that is going to be about our wide ranging work on cases involving 468b settlement funds. If you are a trial lawyer, a structured settlement professional or a plaintiff, these series of video and audio podcasts on structured settlements, settlement planning and 468b trusts are going to be of interest to you.
Thursday
01May2008

468b trusts and tax issues to consider.

One of the nations leading experts on the taxation of damages is Attorney Robert Wood of the firm, Wood Porter of San Francisco, CA and he joins Mark Wahlstrom and Scott Drake on Speaking of Settlements this week to discuss his recent article in the Journal of Tax practices and Procedure on the use of 468b trusts. robwood.jpg

As regular readers and listeners to The Legal Broadcast Network and The Settlement Channel know, 468b trusts, also know as qualified settlement funds, are one of the single most useful and powerful tools for the management of multi-claimant/multi-defendant litigation. They provide a safe harbor during the management and prosecution of a case into which funds can be received by defendants at various times and amounts, with out taxable receipt by the attorney or the plaintiffs in the case. This allows for a rational, transparent process by which legal fees are paid, expenses are paid, government benefits or liens calculated and accounted for, structured annuities purchased and funded along with other substantial benefits. 

However, as these gain in popularity and awareness in the trial practices of leading attorneys, the potential for mistakes or over reaching as to their use looms large and that is the focus of these articles and this two part podcast. Rob and Mark discuss how lawyers can avoid mistakes in the creation of these trusts in the first place, but in the article and podcast they also review the process by which a code sec. 468b trust for a lawyers trust account can potentially be established even after receiving settlement proceeds. This is a very technical area and one that attorneys or settlement professionals should tread carefully in, and only with top quality tax counsel that knows exactly what they are doing.

If you or your firm are considering the use of a 468b trust, or possibly have received funds in a recent case that you think might have been better served by the process of electing status of a 468b trust, then you should listen to these two podcasts or go to Rob Wood's site where you can access the complete articles.

You can listen to the first podcast on 468b trusts by clicking here.

You can listen to the second follow up podcast on 468b trusts by clicking here. 

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