Taxable damages and litigation strategies conference, who is speaking?

In this brief video I am interviewed by Scott Drake, host of Speaking of Justice, discussing the April 12th and 13th events at the Hotel Valley Ho, when I will be co hosting the first national conference on taxable damages litigation, settlement and case management issues related to taxable damage cases and the funding options available to trial lawyers and their clients.

We will be doing profiles of each of the guests and speakers leading up to the conference, speaking to experts such as Tax attorney Robert Wood, Mass Tort and Gulf claims expert Attorney Rick Kuykendall, environmental and multi-claimant expert Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and others.

If you haven't registered yet, or want to learn more, simply go to our event page by clicking here. All of the information, news, hotel registration and event payment is on one easy to navigate location. Be sure to sign up fast, we sold out 40% of the seats in the first week, so you risk being shut out if you don't hustle up and sign up now. Hopefully you can join us and be part of this powerful event designed to jump start the use of creative tools in taxable damage litigation and raise the standard of professional practice in how these are negotiated, managed and disbursed in the future.

Wrongful imprisonment tax clarification, not so fast my friends…

Just prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday I was deluged with emails and notices, most of them with the heading that “The IRS has declared wrongful imprisonment cases to be tax free!”, or words to the effect.

For those of us who like to actually read IRS technical amendment's and clarifications, as well as solicit the advice of those who are smarter then we are on tax issues, it quickly became clear that many of the structured settlement and lawyers who were trumpeting this IRS triumph were a bit pre-mature in their blanket pronouncements.

The fact is this ruling tells us almost nothing new, simply confirming that which we already are aware of which is that physical injury and sickness caused by wrongful imprisonment is NOT taxable, but that the mere loss of civil rights from wrongful imprisonment is still taxable.

Check out this video from LBN’s tax expert, Attorney Robert Wood of the firm Wood & Porter as well as his companion piece in Forbes of last week which I attached via link here.

I know we all want to be able to make wrongful imprisonment cases tax free, but declaring this ruling as proof is not only incorrect it is irresponsible. The real fix would be if the NSSTA and the trial lawyer groups such as Public Justice would go lobby Congress to correct legislatively this obvious wrong.

What to do if you are offered a structured settlement to settle your claim

In the second of our on going series on the basics of structured settlements, today I look at the question of what to do if you are offered a structured settlement as a means of settling your personal injury case or claim.

The video outlines the key topics, but Mark Wahlstrom goes over the essential basics:

1. If you are approached by a casualty or insurance company to settle your claim and you don't yet have a lawyer, GET A LAWYER first! You absolutely do not want to settle a case or claim with out the assistance of a qualified trial lawyer, but you would be shocked at the number of people in small to moderate claims that give it a try. Dont' do it, find a lawyer and if you don't know one contact us and we will help you locate one in your area.

2. Get a structured settlement expert to assist you in designing, pricing and planning your settlement and do NOT work with a broker for the insurance company. This does not mean that a defense broker is bad or incompetent, it just means that it is almost always in your best interest to have your own professional settlement expert working with you.

3. Take your time and consider the offer carefully and do not be rushed. Yes interest rates move and change, but that is no reason to make a hasty or incomplete decision on your settlement just because someone says interest rates might change. There is no need to rush and do not enter into any agreement in haste or under pressure.

4. Ask questions and make sure the plan fits for you. The first offer or design of a plan you see is just that, the first design. One of the great benefits of structured settlements is they offer almost limitless design and pricing options and you need to look carefully to make sure what is offered to you makes sense for you or your family.

Watch our tutorial on " What to do if you are offered a structured settlement to settle your claim" and if you need assistance on your case, contact Mark or Evan Wahlstrom at Wahlstrom & Associates, in Scottsdale AZ to help you.