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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Personal Injury and Med Mal

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, May 24, 2022

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$197.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will discuss the tax consequences to plaintiffs of personal injury settlements and damages and how knowledge of those tax considerations drives the parties' strategies during the case. The program will guide counsel through the right questions and the right professionals to engage to prevent the client from incurring unnecessary tax liability or inadvertently losing favorable tax treatment. The panel will review how to avoid malpractice and ethical pitfalls and offer insights into the tax considerations of the party paying the settlement.

Faculty

Jeremy Babener
Special Tax Counsel
Lane Powell, PC

Mr. Babener is a nationally recognized tax attorney who focuses his practice on lawsuit awards, settlements and complex structures.   

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Deborah Hresko
Tax Manager
C&L Value Advisors, LLC

Ms. Hresko has over 20 years of experience as a CPA, beginning her career with KPMG. She advises plaintiffs and plaintiff counsel on a range of tax and accounting issues.

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Description

Too often, the tax ramifications of litigating or settling a case are not considered until after the fact. While awards for some types of damages are not taxable, most are, but telling the difference is not straightforward. After prevailing against a defendant, plaintiffs do not want to battle the taxing authorities.

Counsel should try to structure settlements to obtain the most desirable tax rates or make them tax-free, if possible.

When cases involve multiple parties, complex issues, and many different types of damages, how settlements are structured and worded is paramount. While fewer options exist for managing the tax consequences of a jury award, some strategies can be deployed.

Listen as this preeminent panelist provides crucial guidance in skillfully and efficiently managing tax issues arising in the context of personal injury payments.

Outline

  1. Taxation of settlement awards
  2. Tax language in settlement agreements
  3. Strategies to make settlements tax-free
  4. Strategies to reduce tax liability

Benefits

The panelist will review these and other key issues:

  • Do personal injury lawyers have a duty to minimize taxation of personal injury settlements?
  • What terms are most hotly negotiated in personal injury settlement and release agreements?
  • Are specific, itemized verdict forms useful in managing the tax consequences of the award?
  • Should cases be planned and litigated with taxes in mind?
  • Which state's tax laws apply to the award?