Tacker LeCarpentier: The Structure Guy

By Bob Friedman

“I will walk into a mediation and inevitably someone will say ‘Oh, he’s the structure guy,’” chuckles Tacker LeCarpentier, president of Raleigh-based Settlement Planning Services, Inc. (SPS). He has earned the moniker with 35 years of litigation experience and 21 years of settlement planning work, including assisting with over $400 million in settlements. LeCarpentier said, “I want to be recognized as an authority on settlement planning and structured settlements.”

A past president of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association, LeCarpentier spends considerable time educating new and not-so-new attorneys on the use of structured settlements. Several years ago, he joined a panel of NC Superior Court judges for a presentation at the Judicial Conference. He also was a keynote speaker at the recent NCAJ CLE seminar, “Disbursements 2026: Back to Basics” where he discussed minor settlements and court approval hearings. He also regularly presents CLEs for North Carolina law firms.

“My first PowerPoint slide is always, ‘if you forget everything else I say today, remember these two things: (1) do not put structured settlement funds in your trust account and (2) do not sign the settlement agreement until we get the structured settlement language into it,’” explained LeCarpentier.

While some of the structured settlement language is boilerplate, every case is unique and the structure benefits must be specified. “It is my responsibility to ensure the proper structure language is included in the settlement documents,” said LeCarpentier. “But we also have to lean into our attorney clients to make sure that happens,” he adds.

“We want the attorneys to call us as early in the case as possible, especially when preliminary settlement discussions have been initiated or mediation is being contemplated,” explained LeCarpentier. “Doing so allows us to review life care plans and medical records and help with case evaluations before negotiations begin. We can also evaluate the impact of governmental benefits, like Medicaid and SSI payments, on any potential settlement funds. And we can often help the claimant maintain those crucial benefits.”

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