First of all, it is fundamentally wrong on the part of your attorney to even consider accepting a structured settlement agreement that is crafted by a structured settlements broker that is loyal to the opposing party -i.e. the defendant.

If your attorney has not already acquired services of an independent and certified structured settlement broker that works for you, and only you -neither for the defendant, nor for the casualty insurers -you should simply walk away from it. Considering that there is usually no added cost to you or to your attorney for hiring an independent structured settlement broker that represents you -the plaintiff, there is no good reason why you should not have the benefit of having a professional structured settlement broker representing you.

Having said that, it is not really that difficult to see if your are being talked into accepting a structured settlement agreement that may not be in your best interest.

10 signs that you are not being offered a "reasonable" structured settlement agreement:

1. You and your attorney are relying on your opponent's structured settlement broker
   
2. The defendant (or the casualty insurer) insists that you agree to using only certain annuities
   
3. The broker you are using has an alliance with the casualty insurer
   
4. The broker pays kickback to the casualty insurers for the exclusive access to your case
   
5. The defendant objects to you retaining your own structured settlement consultant to handle the entire transaction
   
6. The defendant allows you no say in annuity selection, and purchase thereof
   
7. The defendant refuses to offer you a structured settlement unless his broker handles the entire structured transaction
   
8. The defendant tries to trick you into believing their true cost of the future periodic payments to be larger than what it actually is
   
9. The defendant (or the casualty insurer) has an under-the-table kickback arrangement with the defendant’s settlement broker, and once again, if
   
10. You and your attorney are relying on your opponent's structured settlement broker

In summary, if you and your attorney are relying on your opponent's structured settlement broker, it is more than likely that you are not going to have a fair settlement.