John is a Settlement Consultant and the Vice Chairman for Integrated Financial Settlements, the largest group of structured settlement firms in the country. John’s expertise is in medical malpractice, tort, employment and workers’ compensation matters, with a focus on taxation of damages. He obtained the landmark ruling from the IRS on using periodic payments to settle employment claims in 2008 and lead the effort to preserve attorney fee structures and contingency based service providers under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Prior to joining IFS in 2006, John was the Senior Vice President of Structured Settlements for Allstate Assignment Company, a subsidiary of Allstate Life Insurance Company. John started at Allstate in 2000 in charge of market and product development and assumed the sales and development activities of Allstate’s Payout Annuity area, which included the leadership of the Structured Settlement department overall in January of 2004. Before joining Allstate, John was the Regional Vice President of Structured Settlements for Aegon/Transamerica.
John is a veteran who spent eight years in the U.S. Army serving in the Field Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry. John holds a JD, an MBA and a BA in Business and the following professional designations: CSSC, CMSP, FLMI, WCLS, AIAA, CMSS and ACS, with an accounting certification from the Department of Defense. His formal insurance training includes casualty, property, fidelity, reinsurance and workers’ compensation claims, as well as life and health underwriting.
John is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and formerly on the ACLI Committee on Structured Settlements. He is a frequent speaker at the NSSTA, bar associations and industry meetings on wide variety of topics. John was formed the NSSTA’s Government Benefits Committee which focused on the coordination of public benefits with settlements. He is the author of two books, “Workers’ Compensation and Structured Settlements”, a reference book on state guidelines for workers’ compensation claim settlements and “Ratings and Settlement Requirements for Minors.” John has testified at hearings held by the IRS and Treasury on creating favorable tax treatment for abuse victims and was part of a group that recently amended the Tax Code to create Section 139F, which provides tax benefits for exonerees. He recently obtained a ruling that provides tax free benefits on wrongful life settlements and is currently working on guidance on the taxation of PTSD settlements.