Law Times

Law Times • November 28, 2011 BRIEF: STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS Smartphone apps a hot topic Continued from page 15 couple of years in an attempt to attract the attention of a new generation of counsel in personal injury litigation. Baxter maintains her fi rm was the fi rst to launch a struc- tured settlement smartphone application. "It does all sorts of calcula- tions and gives a brief outline as to what a structured settle- ment is," she says. "Th ere's also a contact page, and you can e-mail us from there to get a quote. It's a handy little tool, and we've had a lot of feedback from lawyers saying how easy it is to use. Th e more innovative people who love tech love it." At McKellar, Fenik says the fi rm's application, which it launched within the last year, has been a big hit, especially with younger lawyers, and is about to get an upgrade. "Th ere has been a lot of in- terest in it, particularly for the younger lawyers who are much less technologically challenged than some of the older ones . . . . It's so simple. You can do these calculations very eas- ily and so quickly rather than using the old-fashioned slide rule. It can give all sorts of dif- ferent discount rates, which previously would be at least a two-step process. Now you do it all in one go." According to Nigol, Hen- derson has had a smartphone application available since 2010 that can deliver life-ex- pectancy and present-value cal- culations to lawyers looking to sketch out a structure for a cli- ent. He also has more advances planned for 2012. Early next year, he says the company plans to launch its "new relational database" that pools information and his- torical data on structures and allows clients and lawyers to track an array of statistics. Th e company also plans to "go almost entirely paperless," a move Nigol says was sparked in part by an increase in the fi rm's business in British Columba, a province where clients value green creden- tials particularly highly. SECOND OPINIONS According to Doug Mitch- ell, president of Structured Settlements Group Inc., more plaintiff s are getting their own structured settlement experts to take a look at proposed ar- rangements. "You should have a broker It's becoming on each side. more frequent," he says, noting it's a trend he welcomes. "If you have a problem with a general insurance company that requires a lawyer, you don't phone them up to ask them who their lawyer is and would he help you with it. You don't accept their accountant's num- bers or their doctor's report. With every expert involved, your lawyer goes out and coun- ters with somebody either to come up with a strong position on your side or at least to verify McLeishOrlando_LT_Nov28_11.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com everything you've been told was accurate. It should be the same with a structure." According to Mitchell, the complexity in the structures fi eld and the sheer number of variables in play mean mistakes are easy to make and diffi cult to spot, especially for someone without expertise. For example, during nego- tiations, he says some lawyers will rely on reports on future care costs that use the consum- er price index to predict how infl ation will aff ect the funds plaintiff s will need well into the future. Mitchell argues the index is an inappropriate mea- sure when it comes to medical costs because they rise much faster. Ultimately, that could result in recipients getting less than they should. "If I go to a mediation or a settlement meeting, there is always a diff erent slant that could be put on the structure numbers," he says. "Th ere are often ways to interpret what was being presented in a way that was more suitable to the claimant." According to Mitchell, plain- tiff lawyers who engage their own structured settlement bro- ker are off ering themselves an extra layer of protection. "If a claimant lawyer does not bring in an independent expert and at some point in the future there's something wrong or inadequate with the struc- ture, then the claimant lawyer is going to have the client coming back at him later and introduc- ing him to his new [errors-and- omissions] lawyer," says Mitch- ell. "I've got lawyers who will not go to mediation without me. Lawyers don't become lawyers because they're good at math. It's hard for them to stay on top of it on their own, and there's very few who can understand it enough to make sure everything possible is being done for their client. So hopefully we'll get to the point where it is normal conduct." PAGE 17 LLP PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS 11-11-23 4:20 PM

• Cover
• Law Bids
• Oklahoma Scams
• Focus On Business of Law