by Structured Settlement Watchdog™
David Springer v Erie Insurance Exchange was an interesting case moving through the Court of Appeals for the State of Maryland No.79 September term 2013
Download David Springer v Erie Insurance Exchange .
The underlying case was filed in the Circuit Court for Frederick County Maryland Civil Action No. 10-C-12-001638 and arose out of the insurer’s refusal to provide Springer with a legal defense when he was sued by J.G. Wentworth Originations LLC for defamation and false light in October 2011, the first of the legal cases stemming from the parasitic webuypayments.net redirection scheme and purported marketing schemes that allegedly aligned the terms scam and sucks, with competitors [the second case Woodbridge Structured Funding v David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group was filed in November 2011 in Maryland District Court and is set for trial in mid-August 2014].
The JG Wentworth complaint alleged that David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group used two websites jgw-sucks.com and jgwentworth-scam.com to spread defamatory information to lure customers away from JG Wentworth
Springer noticed Erie and Erie refused to pay under the “business pursuits exclusion”, so Springer hired his own lawyers, from Arent Fox [Michael Cryan and Leah Montesano]. Springer allegedly made attempts to collect from Erie, the more than $70,000 in defense costs he incurred and was again rebuffed so he filed suit. Erie countersued Springer for a declaratory judgment
Springer incredibly argues that that the “business pursuit” exclusion of his policy does not apply because he asserts he was “not actively managing or operating, or participating in the the management or operation of a business” at the time of events alleged in the JG Wentworth complaint
Compare Springer v Erie Insurance Exchange and Woodbridge v Springer
There seems to be some contradiction in what Springer says here when compared to his June 28, 2013 deposition in the Woodbridge case in which he denied that his wife Melissa had anything to do with the business [ Springer depo page 21 lines 12-14 “Q. Was your wife ever involved in Sovereign Funding in any capacity? A. No, none whatsoever”].
There is a raft of other information in the Woodbridge lawsuit,available at Pacer.gov, and information that can be found elsewhere, that would appear to support the position of Erie Insurance Exchange.
Furthermore an email in early May 2012 from David Springer to Nicholas John Jackson (b1980 d.2024) and Kathryn Sias (d.2024) refers to a contact I made with David Springer in July 2011 regarding the webuypayments.net as “prying into SFG business”. In the response to interrogatories and other court documents that can be found on Pacer.gov, David Springer has spoke of their roles in his business during the relevant time period.
The LInkedin profile for Nicholas John Jackson says this about his work during the relevant time period.
“Senior Financial Advisor
Sovereign Funding Group
February 2011 – March 2012 (1 year 2 months)Maryland
During my time with Sovereign Funding Group (C) I advised David Springer personally both finance related matters & pay per click & organic marketing. I was trusted to such a degree that I hand-picked my tasks. Having worked in web-property development & related marketing fields that specialized in building relationships with financial firms: I had the background needed to advise David in any number of topics He once referred to me as “the matrix” after pulling an all-night creating an invoice factoring site from the bottom up. I did this to illustrate that we should branch out. My time there helped me grow my financial expertise” (emphasis added)
Here is the LinkedIn profile for Nicholas John Jackson
Here is a reprint of David Springer’s own LInkedin profiles from 11-26-2012 and in 7-29-2013 which show continuous involvment with Sovereign Funding Group from 2002-2011. It also lists him as transition consultant from December 2011-December 2012. Download Sovereign Funding Group David Springers LinkedIn includes endorsement from Sandy Jackson a non existent character he created 8-11-2013
Counsel for Erie Insurance Exchange explained that the “business pursuits exclusion” is broadly drafted, because business owners are encouraged to purchase business liability coverage, a separate policy form with separate premiums and a separate risk assessment.
The use of the word scam in relation to structured settlement factoring competitors is a common practice
The use of the word scam in relation to competitors in the structured settlement cash now market is a marketing technique used by other settlement purchasers or brokers for settlement purchasers.
For example Einstein Structured Settlements, which has an affiliation with Atlanta based Fairfield Funding has published a web page “Is JG Wentworth a scam find? out here”, notable for somehow misquoting the inductive reasoning proverb “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck” as the less assured “if it smells like a duck it is probably a duck” [the latter logic failing if for example,chef Emeril Lagasse, a human, prepares duck and andouille sausage gumbo for dinner].
The oral arguments were held on April 4, 2014 and you can watch recorded court videos of them on the Maryland Court of Appeals website. It was not surprising to see Springer’s former attorney Maurice Ver Standig of Baltimore’s Offit Kurman in the spectacles, white shirt and black vest in the video, off the right shoulder of Leah Montesano. Offit Kurman withdrew as counsel because earlier this year because David Springer didn’t pay his bills.
The Maryland Court of Appeals remanded David Springer v Erie Insurance Exchange back to the Circuit Court for further development of facts about Springer’s business activity.
When one takes into account the above, the fact that over 30 videos were created in 2011 to promote David Springer and Sovereign Funding Group by Kathryn Sias and her team and there is internet based evidence that shows that Springer reviewed the videos and approved them one has to wonder how Springer can argue he wasn’t in business. Didn’t he pay money for services?
That being said, a lesson to be learned here is that if you have a business you must speak to a risk management and insurance professional, gain an understanding of your exposures and determine what you need or want to insure. The history books are full of stories where failure to assess risk has caused severe financial loss. Life insurance agents often cite the Wrigley family, which was forced to sell the Chicago Cubs to The Tribune Company, due to a $40 million estate tax bill in 1981, just 4 years after P.K.Wrigley died in 1977. Proper planning with life insurance would have saved the Wrigley’s from a devastating financial and emotional loss.