Ben Crump Winning the - Florida State University College of Law

Jason Lazarus Helps Claimants Plan
for What’s Next B Y DAVE FIORE
Many lawyers help victims in
personal-injury cases recover
money after an accident. But
it’s after these recoveries have been made
that Jason Lazarus steps in: He helps claimants
receiving personal injury awards make
wise choices about their fi nancial futures.
Lazarus is a certifi ed structured settlement
consultant and president of
Millennium Settlements, which specializes
exclusively in advising personal injury
victims. He also is Of Counsel and a founding
member of Attorneys Settlement Law
Group. The fi rm handles special-needs
trusts, public benefi t preservation issues,
guardianship, probate, estates and trusts.
The 1996 graduate of the Florida State
University College of Law says his multiple
business interests keep him busy. “I am
always wearing at least three hats. I am
working on my own cases helping personal
injury victims. I am acting as president of
Millennium—running day-to-day operations
and overseeing a staff of more than
20 consultants across the country. And I
am providing services on an Of-Counsel
basis at the law fi rm.”
In the past, settlements were made
to claimants in personal-injury cases as
lump-sum cash payments. But the laws
changed in the 1970s, allowing defendants
to purchase structured settlement annuities
to fund their obligation to claimants and
make installment payments over long periods
of time to satisfy the settlement.
While at fi rst this system of payment
was used almost exclusively for large,
catastrophic-injury cases, claims as small
as $5,000 now are being structured. Most
settlements include up-front cash for attorney
fees, medical expenses and existing
liens resulting from the injury, but the
claimant still is faced with handling the
balance of the settlement and protecting it
so that it serves its intended purpose.
Lazarus says that while he and his colleagues
deal in personal injury cases, they
are not personal injury attorneys. “Trial
lawyers bring Millennium in to work with
their personal-injury clients—to advise
the client about their fi nancial options,”
he said. “We are not competing for the
same services. We have no involvement in
the representation—we get involved only
at the end when it is being settled or after
the verdict.”
He says the same is true for Attorneys
Settlement Law Group. “I found a disconnect
between the delivery of fi nancial
services and legal services such as special
needs trusts. Our fi rm does the back-end
legal services while Millennium provides
advice to clients on fi nancial planning. I
had to seek an ethics opinion from The
Florida Bar to make sure it was not a problem
to assist with both activities. The Bar
said that it was OK with proper disclosure
to our clients.”
Lazarus says he was introduced to
structured settlements by pure chance. “I
was talking with Millennium owner Chris
Diamantis, a good friend and my neighbor
in law school,” he said. “When I mentioned
that I was considering leaving the practice
of law, he asked if I would consider getting
into structured settlements. I researched
the niche and found out that there were a
small number of people in the fi eld compared
to the size of the plaintiffs bar.”
It turned out to be a great fi t. “I get to
use my legal training as I have to review
a lot of legal documents, and there are
always questions pertaining to settlement
law that have to be answered,” he said. “I
do a lot with the preservation of public
benefi ts, because the injured often end
up on public assistance. They can’t meet
their needs because of the severe injuries
they have sustained. It takes special planning
for those people—part fi nancial and
part legal.”
Being a lawyer also has helped him
gain the trust and respect of the trial lawyers
that he works with on a daily basis,
Lazarus says.
‘I am always wearing at least three hats. I am working
on my own cases helping personal injury victims. I
am acting as president of Millennium—running dayto-day
operations and overseeing a staff of more than
20 consultants across the country. And I am providing
services on an Of-Counsel basis at the law fi rm.’
After receiving a bachelor’s degree
from the University of Central Florida and
graduating with high honors from the College
of Law, Lazarus practiced as a medical
malpractice and workers’ compensation
attorney in Orlando. In addition to being
a member of The Florida Bar, Academy
of Florida Trial Lawyers and American
Trial Lawyers Association, he holds a Life,
Health and Variable Annuity license plus
a Series 6 Securities license.
Lazarus, who is married with three
children, says he is excited about the direction
of Millennium and the new law fi rm.
“We have a found a unique niche and are
stepping forward to make a big difference—both
for our success and in the lives
of the people we serve.” k
11
FSU LAW ■ SPRING 2006
ALUMNI FOCUS ■ Jason Lazarus