ABSTRACT
This Note addresses flaws in a state legislative scheme that has failed to accomplish its purpose of protecting tort victims who have agreed to structured settlements from being victimized by financing companies that aggressively seek to acquire the rights to their valuable settlement payment streams. The Note argues that the state court approval process for structured settlement transactions has fundamental procedural flaws and that the market’s opacity obscures pervasive consumer abuse, and, as a solution, recommends that courts and legislatures take certain steps to increase the market’s transparency.
The Note proceeds in three parts. Part I describes the history of structured settlements, documents the rise of the factoring industry, and provides an overview of the legislative response to the industry. In addition to offering an explanation for why this legislative response has failed to accomplish its goals, Part II surveys litigation and public enforcement efforts challenging abusive factoring industry practices and explains why litigation has historically been rare. Part III elaborates on the solution described above.
Gordon, James, Enforcing and Reforming Structured Settlement Protection Acts: How the Law Should Protect Tort Victims (January 21, 2020). Columbia Law Review, forthcoming.
First posted 2020-03-09 07:06:54
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