478. You Fought Hard to Win Your Client $10M. A Hidden Tax Trap Is About to Take $2M of It. | Rachel Sampsell, Eastern Point Trust Company

Winning your client $10 million doesn't necessarily mean you delivered $10 million in value. In certain taxable settlements, an overlooked tax issue can leave a plaintiff writing a seven-figure check to the IRS after the case closes—and by then, the opportunity to address it may disappear. Rachel Sampsell is Chief Trust Officer and Industry Educator at Eastern Point Trust Company, which has administered more than $25 billion in recoveries across more than 6,000 trusts. She has made educating plaintiff attorneys about the attorney fee double-tax issue a major focus of her work, speaking about settlement planning at events including MTMP and Trial Lawyers University. In this episode, Rachel joins Chris Dreyer to examine what happens between winning the case and getting the recovery safely into your client's hands. They discuss Qualified Settlement Funds, the tax implications of certain non-physical injury settlements, why timing changes the options available to a plaintiff, and how paralegals can become early issue spotters before the parties finalize settlement documents. You'll learn: When a Qualified Settlement Fund can help PI firms manage disbursements, liens, and post-settlement administration. Which taxable settlement components should prompt attorneys to bring in a tax or settlement planning expert. The critical timing difference between setting up a QSF and addressing the plaintiff attorney fee double-tax issue. How paralegals can flag settlement tax issues before the firm loses the opportunity to address them. Where settlement planning can preserve client value beyond the dollar amount negotiated in the case. Head over to Rankings.io to see for yourself how we can help take your business to the next level. Like what you hear? Hit Subscribe! We do this every week. If you want to keep learning from the best voices in PI, join us at PIMCON 2026. Buy your tickets now! Subscribe to our newsletter and get the freshest news every Monday: newsletter.rankings.io Get Social! Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer powered by Rankings.io is on Instagram | YouTube | TikTok