by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC
Lawyers in the United States are recommended, under American Bar Association (ABA) ethics rule 6.1, to contribute at least fifty hours of pro bono service per year. Some state bar associations, such as New York, may recommend fewer hours.
For those not familar with the term "pro bono", it is often used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment, for the good of the public. It is common in the legal profession and according to Wikpedia, it is is increasingly seen in marketing, technology and strategy consulting firms. Unlike traditional volunteerism, pro bono service leverages the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.
In the opinon of this author, when a person calls with questions about structured settlement factoring, the structured settlement broker or settlement planner should consider any service provided in that consultation (in connection with structured settlement factoring**) as a pro bono service, regardless of whether such person is already a client of the structured settlement broker or settlement planner. If the legal profession (upon whose clients they feast ) can do it, why can't the majority of the structured settlement and settlement planning industry?
How about structured settlement brokers silently taking the structured settlement factoring vig?
How about those structured settlement broker and settlement planners referring business to JG Wentworth and Strategic Capital? They know who they are.
How about it National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and Society of Settlement Planners (SSP)?
** such as making a needs assessment, exploring alternative options and/or making a referral
This is how the law firm of Drinker Biddle Reath, LLP addressses pro bono. "At Drinker Biddle, pro bono work is part of who we are and what we do, every day. We work for clients who cannot afford lawyers, and for causes that call out for the skilled advocacy that only the best lawyers can provide. We provide the resources needed to serve our pro bono clients. We serve our pro bono clients with the same quality and attention, and the same resources and effort, we give to every client". Now apply what THEY say to your structured settlement and settlement planning practice if a tort victim calls with questions about factoring.
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