How Qualified Settlement Funds Streamline Settlements

Jeremy Babener, Tax & Settlement Counsel | Structured Legal, LLC

Jeremy is a nationally recognized tax expert. He counsels plaintiffs and plaintiff-side law firms on settlement planning, helping to maximize recovery outcomes. He also reviews and structures settlement transactions for trust companies, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Jeremy has worked across a broad spectrum of cases and settlement sizes, including individual claims, mass torts, and class actions. His role often includes drafting and refining settlement terms, proposing tax-efficient and financial strategies, and negotiating their adoption with defense teams. He frequently speaks on settlement taxation and ethics at law schools such as NYU School of Law and the University of Chicago, contributes articles to Forbes, Bloomberg, and the ABA, and shares his insights on CNN, Fox News, and CNBC.

• Education and Credentials

Jeremy is a nationally recognized tax expert with extensive experience advising on the tax and financial aspects of legal settlements. Earlier in his career, he served as a Fellow in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he gained insight into federal tax policy. His background provides a strong foundation for advising attorneys and clients on complex settlement-related tax issues.

• Recognition and Leadership

Jeremy is widely recognized for his expertise in settlement taxation and planning. He chairs the Legal Committee of the Society of Settlement Planners and is known for helping shape discussions around ethical and tax considerations in settlement practice. His leadership roles reflect his influence in advancing best practices within the settlement planning community.

• Professional Involvement

He is actively involved in several prominent legal organizations, including the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Public Education Committee and the American Bar Association’s TIPS Plaintiffs’ Practice Committee. Through these roles, Jeremy contributes to professional education and policy discussions affecting plaintiff-side practitioners.

• Experience

Jeremy has worked on a wide range of cases, including individual claims, mass torts, and class actions of varying settlement sizes. His work often involves structuring settlement transactions, developing tax-efficient financial strategies, and negotiating settlement terms with defense teams.

Kent Hansen | Structured Legal

Kent Hansen is a settlement planner and attorney based in Logan, Utah, who focuses on advising plaintiffs and plaintiff attorneys on the tax treatment of settlements and strategies to maximize settlement value. Through his work at Structured Legal, he provides guidance on structuring outcomes to achieve optimal financial results. In addition to his legal practice, he serves as a consultant for Structured Consulting, where he assists settlement planners in identifying key issues and implementing value-driven arrangements.

• Education & Credentials

Kent Hansen holds a law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law, along with a master’s degree in Personal Financial Planning from Texas Tech University. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Utah State University and is licensed to practice law in Utah.

• Recognition & Leadership

He currently serves as a board member of the Estate Planning Council of Northern Utah and previously held a board position with the Society of Settlement Planners, reflecting his leadership and involvement within professional organizations related to his field.

• Professional Involvement

Kent is actively engaged in the settlement planning community through his roles with Structured Legal and Structured Consulting, where he collaborates with attorneys and other professionals to address settlement-related financial and tax considerations and to enhance planning strategies.

• Experience

His experience centers on settlement planning, where he advises on tax implications and develops strategies to maximize settlement outcomes for plaintiffs. Additionally, his consulting work involves supporting settlement planners in issue-spotting and structuring arrangements designed to create greater value in settlement scenarios.

SESSION 1 – Use Of QSFs by Both Plaintiffs and Defense | 2:30pm – 2:42pm

Examine how a Qualified Settlement Fund serves each side of the table. Defendants finalize payment and close their books; plaintiffs gain time. Identify the case profiles — individual claims, mass torts, class actions — where the structure earns its place in a settlement.

SESSION 2 – Tax Treatment and Planning Opportunities | 2:42pm – 2:54pm

Work through the tax treatment that makes a QSF useful, and the planning it unlocks once funding and distribution are separated. Cover tax-efficient strategies that maximize recovery, and the timing decisions that determine what remains available to the client.

SESSION 3 – Preserving Benefit Eligibility and Client Discretion | 2:54pm – 3:06pm

Address what a rushed disbursement can cost. Learn how holding a recovery in the fund protects needs-based benefit eligibility while planning is completed, and how it preserves the client’s discretion over structured settlements, attorney fee deferral, and lien resolution.

SESSION 4 – Integrating QSFs into the Settlement Process | 3:06pm – 3:18pm

Fold the fund into the process you already run. Walk the sequence from settlement documentation through defendant funding, administration, and distribution, and pinpoint where the QSF is raised in negotiation so it accelerates closing rather than delaying it.

SESSION 5 – Choosing A Qualified and Reliable QSF Administrator | 3:18pm – 3:30pm

Not every administrator is equal. Review the criteria that separate a qualified, reliable QSF Administrator from a costly one — trust platform depth, coordination with settlement planners and lienholders, and the administrative time a firm actually saves or loses.