Have the radicals been irradicated or has common sense prevailed?
"To assist injury victims, claimants and attorneys in resolving their legal financial claims, and to advocate the injury victim’s right to choose settlement planning advisors and financial and guarantee providers." SSP Mission statement on web site home page of Society of Settlement Planners, INc.
"The mission of the Society of Settlement Planners, Inc. organized in 2004, is to assist injury victims, claimants and attorneys in resolving financial issues which impact their legal claims" SSP Mission statement as stated on the recent press release from Charles Derenne, current President of the Society of Settlement Planners, Inc.
Oddly, in the "find a member" function on its website, under "search members", the SSP offers a "drop down" company list to aid in your search which now includes Hartford Fire Insurance Company, an entity whose parent is being sued by plaintiffs whose co-counsel is one of SSP’s founding members, Richard B. Risk, Chairman of SSP’s legal committee. Other improbables on the list include Allstate Insurance Company, also a litigation target of Risk, The Pension Company, AIG Technical Services, Atlas Settlements, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, BBC World Service, The Chicago Tribune, the United States Government, multiple newspapers and even the NSSTA’s PR guru. How useful is a member search if it leads to individuals or entities who are not even members or omits those that are?
Rhonda Bentzen of factoring company, Bentzen Funding Solutions, is not listed as a member or Patron, yet is listed as the Membership Chairman on the SSP website. What gives? Has the SSP abandoned its one time funding sources ? This would make sense, but is it true?
The SSP site lists several attorneys as professional members. While some of these attorneys are certainly legal professionals, the definition of "professional member" on the SSP web site is "Professional Member – Individual brokers who devote the majority of their work effort as structured settlement brokers (emphasis added) at the invitation of and with a pledged duty of loyalty to claimants. Members in this category each shall have voice and vote, may serve in elected or appointed office, and may serve on any committee to which they are appointed." One of those listed as a "professional member" attorney is listed as one of the "Best Lawyers in America". No way this man "devotes the majority of his work effort as a structured settlement broker". How could he? The attorney is known to this writer to be a client of a member of the SSP by virtue of the fact that the SSP member broker posts a testimonial by such attorney on his web site.
The SSP should get its collective "cyberspace shit" together! Otherwise it’s making its credibility an issue. It need not be.
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