by Structured Settlement Watchdog
MJ Settlements heads to potential showdown with insurers?
- MJ settlements appeared to be trading on the goodwill and trademarked insurer brands for MJ Settlements profit
- Falsely promoted sales of structured settlement receivables to investors as annuities using the insurers’ trademarked brands on MJ Settlements website as well as social media platforms.
See below for an example.
Active Registered Trademarks of Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers appear on the MJ Settlements website Wheel of Logos
Pacific Life
Name USPTO Serial Number 75207211 June 23, 1998
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
Logo USPTO Serial Number 75741937 December 18, 2001
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
New York Life Insurance Company
Logo USPTO Serial Number 74154351 Registered June 30, 1992
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
Name USPTO Serial Number 74237947 Registered February 2, 1993
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
Covered in my June 1, 2025 post MJ Settlements Using Prudential’s Registered Trademark to Pitch Structured Settlement Receivable to Investors – Structured Settlements 4Real® 2025
CEO Lesk’s Expired Appointments
- Pacific Life, expired 2022
- Pruco (a Prudential underwriting company, however not the one that issues structured settlement annuities), expired 2023
- John Hancock, expired 2023
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services Licensee Detail
MJ Settlements uses Trademarked logos of insurers with which neither MJ Settlements nor its CEO Todd Michael Lesk have held an apppointment in the home state of Florida
- Symetra Life Insurance Company
- Berkshire Hathaway
- AIG
It should be noted that AIG spun off its Life & Retirement Division in 2022, which was rebranded as Corebridge Financial. According to Florida Department of Financial Services, Lesk is still appointed with one of the Corebridge companies. Corebridge is not in the structured settlement factoring business.
As previously reported June 1, 2024, Todd Lesk is the CEO of MJ Settlements according to his LinkedIn; his wife Ricia Lesk is the President according to Florida Secreatry of State records.
What is Fair Use?
Trademarks enable the public to recognize goods or services as originating from a particular source. A trademark owner can stop others from using its trademark to prevent confusion about the source of the goods or services. In some circumstances however, someone may use another party’s trademark if the use is considered a “fair use”. This “fair use” exception is recognized throughout most of the world.
MJ Settlements added the Wheel of Logos after my June 1, 2025 posting
It is evident that MJ Settlements is utilizing the branded and registered trademarked logos of various life insurers—key brand identifiers of insurers currently issuing structured settlement annuities—to promote structured settlement receivables, which are not annuities.
It appears to be intended to generate financial gain for MJ Settlements through the use of trademarked logos and brand identifiers featured on the company’s website.
- A structured settlement receivable offered to by MJ Settlements (or any company in the secondary or tertiary market) does not qualify as a receivable in the form marketed to investors by MJ Settlements (or similar entities) until the transfer of structured settlement payment rights is finalized in accordance with IRC 5891 and applicable structured settlement protection acts.
- Most structured settlement annuities are obtained by qualified assignment companies, not sold directly to individuals, when the settlement is set up. Since the ownership of the annuity doesn’t change in a factoring transaction, MJ Settlements and Lesk calling the receivables an annuity is, to put it mildly, both false and misleading.
This activity pertains to companies with which Todd Lesk is not appointed to sell life insurance, and/or to place structured settlement annuities. The action of adding the wheel of trademarked insurer logos after my June 1, 2025 post is damning and indefensible, in my opinion.
Todd Lesk has been the CEO of two companies that have flaunted the use of Insurance Company Logos to sell receivables for more almost 15 years
MJ Structured Settlement Annuities Using Insurance Company Logos March 14, 2014
How Big of a Problem is the Initial Interest Confusion created by the Secondary Market and Tertiary Market Trading on and Seeking to Profit From Insurer logos?
Look no further than my May 4, 2025 post for another glaring example
The deliberate misrepresentation of structured settlement receivables as annuities propped up by the deliberate, unauthorized and deceptive use of insurers’ trademarked logos by anyone in the structured settlement secondary or tertiary markets in advertising needs to come to an end
There is no gray area
- National Association of Settlement Purchasers Statutory Issue Paper No. 160 (“not an annuity or insurance or product”) Finalized April 6, 2019.
- 2017 Modifications to the Life & Health Guaranty Associations Model Act. You invest in receivables you could end up with zero if the insurer liquidates. Adopted by majority of US states. It applies retroactively. So an investor is not safe if receivables were acquired before the effective date that a state adopts the Model Act. I’ve written about it extensively.
- “Receivables Purchase Agreement” is the name of the agreement that an investor enters into to acquire structured settlement receivables. If it were an annuity wouldn’t it say Annuity application?
- Definition of annuity under the laws of most states does not jive with those serving up the steaming bowl of bollocks bollognaise that investors are buying annuities instead of the receivables that MJ is selling.