Personal Injury Ethics: Avoiding Malpractice on Tax, Government Benefits, and Other Specialized Issues
Addressing Non-Litigation Issues Under Model Rule 1.2 While Increasing Settlement Value

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Personal Injury and Med Mal
- event Date
Thursday, January 13, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
60 minutes
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This 60-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.0 CLE credits.
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An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.
This CLE course will review when personal injury attorneys may be obligated to provide guidance before settlement on non-litigation issues such as tax, government benefits, and other issues. While attorneys can ethically narrow the scope of their representation, doing so requires "informed consent." The program will discuss ethical considerations for lawyers who wish to limit their scope and make compliant referrals to professionals who can address these specialized issues.
Faculty

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

Mr. Di Gangi is a Certified Financial Planner, Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, former Litigation Supervisor / Large Case Negotiator, and current Director of Settlement Professional Inc.’s Financial & Settlement Planning Division. For over 30 years, he has expertly combined traditional Financial Planning strategies, Litigation Support Services and Plaintiff focused Settlement Planning for the benefit of his very special clientele including catastrophically injured clients, their loved ones, and their legal representatives.

Prior to joining Vista, Ms. Murrah spent more than 16 years managing and marketing a national, legal case management software company. That position introduced her to thousands of personal injury law firms across the country. Ms. Murrah was a familiar face at annual legal events and a frequent voice on topics ranging from legal marketing to data integrity. She is skilled in identifying law firm business improvement opportunities and brings her extensive operations, team management, and industry knowledge to the Vista team.

Mr. Alfieri is a personal injury plaintiff and settlement planner. A passionate defender of plaintiffs’ rights, he has directly participated in initiatives to improve the rights of claimants in structured settlement transactions. Most notably, petitioning the United States Treasury Department to publish literature authorizing the use of qualified or designated settlement funds for single claimant settlements.
Description
A settlement impacts a plaintiffs' taxes, financial stability, and government benefits eligibility. Trial lawyers face an evolving duty of care to address these issues.
ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2(c) allows a lawyer to narrow their scope upon "informed consent." Like requesting a conflicts waiver, there are substantive steps to obtain that "informed consent." This webinar will discuss those steps, the issues to watch for in your representations, and how to compliantly refer clients to professionals.
Listen as the experienced panel discusses how to satisfy your ethical obligations to plaintiffs, properly narrow your scope of representation, and compliantly refer to a specialist--all to increase the net present value of your client's recovery.
Outline
- Introduction
- How non-litigation issues can reduce net settlement value
- Limiting representation under Model Rule 1.2
- Ensuring informed consent
- Making compliant client referrals to subject matter experts
Benefits
The panel will review these and other pivotal issues:
- What are the ethical duties of trial lawyers to help clients with non-litigation issues?
- When and how should clients involve advisers with specialized knowledge/experience?
- What are the most critical tax, finance, and benefits issues in personal injury cases?
- How can counsel ethically narrow their scope of representation?
- Most importantly, how can ethical compliance increase net settlement value?
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