by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP
Tulsa Lawyer Dick Risk, a former disgruntled structured settlement producer who decided to take matters into his own hands, got a law degree and then started on a long journey (in conjunction with several other law firms) that resulted in a successful class action settlement, gloats that “His class action lawsuit was followed by the insurer’s exit from the structured settlement annuity marketplace”. Source: Home page of Risk Law Firm website December 18, 2010 245pm EST
The fact that an Alleged Bad Business Practice was Dealt with in the Legal System is Enough
The self-aggrandising implication made by Dick Risk is obvious, and thus deserves to be called out on the carpet
The following is offered up for the consideration of my readers…
Risk took credit for something that HURTS small plaintiffs
Even if one were to consider the life insurer’s alleged role in the alleged business practice to be abhorrent and the “windfall” that Dick Risk and his legal colleagues obtained is a great result for each of the plaintiffs and as a deterrent to other insurers doing the same, what has Hartford Life Insurance Company’s “exit from the structured settlement annuity marketplace” achieved in real terms for plaintiffs as we go forward?
- If we were to believe The Risk Law Firm implication, should we further congratulate Dick Risk because the result is a degree of erosion in competition due to having one less annuity issuer in the structured settlement annuity marketplace?
- Hartford Life Insurance Company was one of the few insurers in the marketplace that did not charge qualified assignment fees. They were especially useful on small cases as a result. Should Dick Risk now be further congratulated for exhibiting the “class” to “take credit” for something that ULTIMATELY HURTS small PLAINTIFFS?
- Even if one were to give Dick Risk credit for purportedly taking down Hartford Life Insurance Company’s structured settlement annuity program, he DID NOT take down Hartford Life Insurance Company, or the The Hartford itself which incidently, is endorsed by the AARP, an association whose membership card Dick Risk qualifies to be carrying in his wallet. According to the AARP website, The Hartford insures its auto and homeowners’ insurance programs.
- On a more fundamental level, was “his class action lawsuit” the actual reason that Hartford Life Insurance Company withdrew from the structured settlement annuity marketplace in October 2009?
- If the above were actually true, how many jobs were lost as the direct result of “his class action lawsuit” in the middle of a recession? Why would Dick Risk choose to gloat?
Risk’s Legal Colleagues, who Did the Heavy Lifting, had the class to not to falsely imply that they were the fuse that led to Hartford’s withdrawal from the structured settlement marketplace
And Hartfford was actually back in the market place a year later anyway.
Hartford Returning to Structured Settlement Market Think Advsior August 22, 2011
Structured Settlement “Stag Party” Set For August – Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog August 23, 2011
Comments anyone?
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