Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog 2026

Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements and settlement planning information and news, and provides expert opinion and highly regarded commentary. that is spicy, Informative, irreverent and effective for over 20 years.

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The STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS 4REAL® Blog is a highly regarded source for structured settlement news, information, and commentary, led by structured settlement and settlement planning subect mater expert John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC. With two decades of operation, the blog and 4structures.com are recognized as comprehensive resources, offering detailed guides and specialized insights. Established in 2005, the blog caters to a broad audience, including legal professionals, injured individuals, families, and various stakeholders, providing reviews and opinions on settlement planning. John Darer, President of 4structures.com LLC, is a seasoned structured settlement expert with over 40 years of financial services experience and 31 years specializing in structured settlements. Based in Stamford, CT, he is a Certified Financial Transitionist and Registered Settlement Planner, holding insurance licenses in 45 states and the District of Columbia. John Darer is dedicated to transparency and advocacy, he emphasizes the importance of engaging trained and licensed professionals for settlement planning, offering valuable insights through his investigative journalism and professional commentary.

What is The Relevance of “Dollar Exposure” To Plaintiffs?

A. "  We have over 5,000 cases under our belt, with a dollar exposure of over $8 billion" Forge Consulting, LLC brochure printed on or about July 2006 and distributed at the Seattle ATLA meeting 2006 and AAJ Winter meeting 2007.

B. "Since the inception of his practice in 1999, John (Bair) has facilitated the settlements of more than 2,000 cases, with a total dollar exposure in excess of $5 billion Forge Consulting, LLC web site bio of John Bair, accessed 06/03/2007.

Dog On Fire Hydrant I’m sorry to have to have lift my leg… AGAIN… on the Forge Consulting "fire hydrant", but something just isn’t right. Several years ago I had the occasion to speak to John Bair when he was new in the business and I saw the exact same "statistic" in B. With a healthy degree of skepticism I called him up to congratulate him on his "remarkable success" and  he revealed that the dollar exposure was not the premium, as it suggests, but the open insurance policy or demand. For example, if Nancy Klutz slips on a banana peel in the El Chimpo hotel lobby and she settles her claim for $50,000, but the hotel has $50 million policy limits, Bair, and I have to presume now FORGE Consulting, apparently calls THAT "the exposure".

I suppose the manipulation of the words "dollar exposure" might resonate if you were pitching a property and casualty insurer, IF if the claims adjuster or defense attorney were counting on FORGE to negotiate their case to save them "exposure". However, it’s not clear why the "dollar exposure" is significant to a plaintiff attorney or to a plaintiff considering engaging FORGE Consulting as a structured settlement broker or settlement planner. FORGE Consulting advertises that it is "plaintiff exclusive".

It’s puzzling why FORGE Consulting, LLC continues to use smoke and mirrors when it would be far more significant to disclose how much premium it has actually written. But then again this is the company that still advertises that it can obtain an "equivocated guaranteed rate at approximately 15%" for structured attorney fees

  Badminton…or is it "poppycock".

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