by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CEFT RSP CLTC
The Focus Should Have Been on The Locus
The New York Court of Appeals has ruled against lead paint victim Lujerio Cordero in his battle against 
Transamerica to break new legal ground in the interpretation of structured settlement agreements, having attempted to do so without a focus on the "locus", the unlicensed and unregulated structured settlement factoring companies that actually completed 6 structured settlement factoring transactions, a point raised by the judicial panel in New York's highest court during oral arguments on March 16, 2023.
In writing for the majority decision, Judge TROUTMAN opined:
"The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified to this Court a question requiring us to consider whether a plaintiff sufficiently pleads a cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under New York law by alleging that, during a Structured Settlement Protection Act proceeding, defendants (i.e., the structured settlement obligor and the issuer of an annuity funding the settlement) failed to enforce the anti-assignment provisions contained in structured settlement and qualified assignment agreements. Based on the New York Court of Appeals' reformulation of the question, it concluded that such allegations do not state a cognizable cause of action for breach of the implied covenant".
Download Corderov Transamerica NY Court of Appeals 21opn23-Decision 4-24-2023
The case now goes back to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Lujerio Cordero,
Appellant,
v.
Transamerica Annuity Service
Corporation, &c.,
Respondent,
Transamerica Life Insurance
Company,
Respondent,
et al.,
Third-Party Defendants-
Cross Defendants.
Transamerica Annuity, the qualified assigmment company used in the placement of Transamerica Life Insurance Company until Transamerica Life stopped writing strucured settlement annuities in 2003, is now known as Wilton Re Annuity Service Corporation.
Prior Blogs and Background
New York Law Journal Headline April 25, 2023