Life Insurance can be a wonderfully powerful financial product when thoroughly understood, expertly built, appropriately underwritten and thoughtfully managed. However, this isn’t always the case.
Whether intentional or not, too many policies and policy owners have been harmed through inattention, misrepresentation, inappropriate marketing practices and outright fraud by insurance carriers, agents and trustees.
I’m not an attorney so I don’t do the litigating. I am a life insurance expert who works closely with policy owners and their advisors and counsel to understand what, if anything, has actually gone wrong and to find ways to fix it. Most of my engagements don’t end up in litigation as I work with clients to avoid this when possible. In fact, many times I am called in before legal counsel to help all of the parties involved get an unprecedented understanding of the insurance policy or portfolio, what has happened and why. At times the outcome of this process is to realize that even though things may not have turned out the way they were “supposed to” there is not proven fault on anyone’s behalf, litigation will not result in anything and time and money will likely be wasted.
Other times my analysis reveals clear wrongdoing, sometimes so blatant that I can draft a demand letter to an insurance company that will right a wrong without ever having to involve an attorney.
Often my decades of industry experience work hand in hand with an advisor team to bring industry information and practices to light that may have been overlooked or almost impossible to otherwise uncover. Information that has been readily available sometimes contains a smoking gun that has not yet been recognized. Very often my experience will short cut the process by such an extent that my fees pay for themselves. The value of being an industry insider for many years in many different capacities is significant.
Sample of Past Engagements
Working with multiple policy owners and legal teams across the country regarding premium finance deals. Most involve serious misrepresentation as well as insurance carriers ignoring their own published guidelines.
Sample of Past Engagements
Prevailed as an Expert Witness for a FINRA arbitration case arguing inappropriate sale and forgery.
Sample of Past Engagements
Subject matter witness in a murder case.
Sample of Past Engagements
Discovered and successfully proved an agent fabricated documents to sell client’s advisor team on $54,000,000 of insurance. Policy owner had no idea he was a victim of fraud until I told him. I was hired for something unrelated.
Sample of Past Engagements
Retroactively proved that the largest insurer in the world had a software mistake that couldn’t account for backdating a policy with a 1035 exchange.
Sample of Past Engagements
Proved a major insurance carrier had a software mistake causing policy basis to be miscalculated.
Sample of Past Engagements
Inter-family squabble regarding a family private split dollar agreement that ended up in court for breach of contract. (Hired by four different parties for this case.)
Sample of Past Engagements
Worked with counsel to win damages for the benefit of a retired CEO of a bank suing his former employer over a disastrous split dollar deal.
Sample of Past Engagements
Have worked defending and going after trustees of ILITS
Sample of Past Engagements
Supported litigation against an agent for a fraudulent deferred comp sale to the CEO of a credit union.
Sample of Past Engagements
Successfully and quickly forced a settlement in a claim against a major mutual carrier who denied any responsibility for three years before my involvement. In 30 days I discovered damning information about the agent forced the matter.
Sample of Past Engagements
Worked with counsel to be instrumental in defining and collecting damages against parties involved in a large welfare benefit trust/VEBA where plan sponsor stole tens of millions of cash value from the plan. I was able to inform lead counsel that the formula being used for damages was wrong and significantly undervaluing losses.
Sample of Past Engagements
Worked to prove misrepresentation by the agent of a major mutual carrier regarding dividends and contract guarantees.
Sample of Past Engagements
Forced a couple of insurance carriers into properly crediting contracts after forcing the issue by highlighting contract language they had ignored.
Sample of Past Engagements
Worked to prove inappropriate self-enrichment when a bank trustee acted as agent and forced replacement of millions of dollars of coverage for hundreds of thousands of dollars of commissions while not benefiting the trust beneficiaries.
Besides my own knowledge base, the top names and minds in the life insurance practice, consulting and legal world are my friends and associates. This is often invaluable as expertise I may not have in a particular niche is a phone call away. Knowing who knows stuff can be half the battle.
Feel free to call to discuss a situation. There is no charge for talking until we mutually decide an engagement is worthwhile.
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