by Structured Settlement Watchdog
The specious argument made by John Bair in his response to a query about my post “What Does Exclusive Mean To You?”, which I cited in “Is Buffalo Bair Being Fair with the United States Department of Justice?” deserves intense scrutiny. If you recall, “plaintiff-exclusive” Bair, President and CEO of Buffalo NY base Forge Consulting, LLC, did a plie in an attempt to justify his signing the DOJ declaration on August 16, 2006 –Download 2006_bair_doj_50.24 Declaration.pdf by stating (in part):
“we have significant experience consulting with defendants. Our firm does a qualified assignment (sic) practically on every case, and in many cases the defendant or defense counsel whether represented or not consult with us” [ from Bair communication to attorneys at AAJ, supplied to me by the late Richard Halpern of the Halpern Group]
Plaintiff attorneys or trial lawyers who have accepted Bair’s “plaintiff-exclusive” claim should review the following excerpt from “The Final Rule.” On August 16, 2006, John T. Bair declared under penalty of perjury that he had reviewed this statement. The goal of creating a new list each calendar year, along with updates during the year, is to provide U.S. Attorneys with the names of annuity brokers who meet minimum qualifications by submitting a Declaration within the year and maintaining those qualifications. Each new year’s list or any updates replace all prior lists, and the most current list must be used when selecting a broker.
Executive Order 12866
“To Make Their Services Available to United States Attorneys”
“The costs considered in this connection included the costs attendant to the submission of
declarations by annuity brokers who desire to make their services available to United States Attorneys in connection with structured settlements entered by the United States.”
“In each case, the United States Attorney or his or her designee may consider a variety of
factors in attempting to select the broker whom he or she believes will
best serve the interests of the United States.”
“AUTHORITY TO SELECT ANNUITY BROKER FOR STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS- In any structured settlement that is not negotiated exclusively through the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, the United States Attorney (or his designee) involved in any settlement negotiations shall have the exclusive authority to select an annuity broker from the list of such brokers established by the Attorney General, provided that all documents related to any settlement comply with Department of Justice requirements.” 21ST CENTURY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT
The excerpts from The Final Rule support the following:
- The purpose of the list is to provide information to United States Attorneys who use the list to select structured settlement brokers to assign work on behalf of the United States.
- It is understood that Annuity brokers submit their declarations to make their services available to United States Attorneys.
- United States Attorneys select structured settlements from the list who they believe will best serve the interests of the United States.”
The Department of Justice should conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the execution of the Declarations by John T. Bair in view of (1) his signing such declaration less than one month after he and members of his company delivering a written document proclaiming plaintiff exclusivity to members of ATLA/AAJ (2) statements he has made since (3) information readily available from public sources
Other structured settlement brokers, settlement planners and settlement consultants who have in the past signed the DOJ declaration , or are contemplating signing, using the same specious argument that John T. Bair used to justify his actions, to get at “that last morsel of birdseed” be forewarned that you could be risking your career.
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