MetLife Retirement & Income Solutions

2023 Structured Settlements Poll

Jul 25, 2023

This poll addresses:

  • How comfortable are employment plaintiff attorneys in recommending structured settlements?
  • From which other professionals do these attorneys encourage their clients to seek professional advice about their settlement award?
  • How important a role do structured settlement brokers play in positioning the value of structured settlements for employment claims?
  • How can brokers and insurers/annuity providers help employment plaintiff attorneys better understand and recommend structured settlements?
86% of employment plaintiff attorneys agree that structured settlements can be a good negotiating tool for employment matters to speed up the resolution of a claim and/or make it more likely to settle

When the defendant and the plaintiff in a lawsuit agree to settle a claim, they reach a mutually agreeable settlement in which they negotiate a cash amount payable by the defendant in exchange for the plaintiff dropping the lawsuit. The money can be distributed as either a lump sum or through a series of payments over time with a structured settlement annuity.

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Why employment plaintiff attorneys recommend structured settlements

MetLife's Ravi Vaswani discusses key findings from MetLife’s 2023 Structured Settlements Poll, which revealed the vast majority (96%) of employment plaintiff attorneys recommend structured settlements to their clients instead of a lump sum.  

Most Attorneys Recommend Structured Settlements

86 %

Percentage of attorneys who think they should recommend them

57 %

Percentage of attorneys who say the top reason for recommending them are guaranteed payments

86 %

Percentage of attorneys who believe structured settlement brokers play an important role

Lump Sum Depletion Concerns

Even though two-thirds of employment plaintiff attorneys surveyed believe their clients are financially savvy, most are concerned that their clients will deplete their settlement award too quickly.

Professionals That Employment Plaintiff Attorneys Encourage Their Clients to Meet With

86 % Tax Attorneys
86 % Financial Advisors
80 % Certified Public Accountants
73 % Structured Settlement Brokers

NEW: Recommending Structured Settlements for Employment Claims: Where Do Brokers Fit In?

View Infographic

Did you know?

Brokers are encouraged to provide best practice advice to help attorneys better recommend structured settlements to their clients. Find out what advice would be most helpful for brokers to provide.

Conclusion

With nearly 25,000 employment lawsuits filed annually in the U.S., deciding whether to take a settlement award as a lump sum or a structured settlement annuity is a critical decision made by employment lawsuit plaintiffs that can have serious, long-term consequences.

View other insights from the 2023 Structured Settlements Poll

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