Md. Attorney General Urges Structured Settlement Reforms

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's attorney general would have the ability to regulate deals offered by businesses that buy legal settlements at huge discounts from lead poisoning victims, such as Baltimore's Freddie Gray, under legislation proposed in the state.

Attorney General Brian Frosh outlined reforms to structured settlement arrangements at a news conference on Thursday.

The measure also would require that courts find the transfer of settlements to be in the best interest of the injured person. It also requires that cases be decided in the court of the county where the injured person lives.

The Washington Post reported in August that Gray, whose death after he was injured in police custody last year prompted riots, had agreed in 2013 to sell $146,000 worth of future payments in his structured settlement for about $18,300.