The course was called "How to Hammer Allstate," and the
Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association knew it was on to something when it sold out before
the advertising fliers were printed.
Other states report similar success with the same topic. In fact,
the Allstate seminar has become the hot ticket for fulfilling the usually unexciting
obligation to engage in continuing legal education (CLE). The class has been drawing
record crowds across the country--and the reason is Allstate.
That's no surprise to many plaintiffs' lawyers. Allstate
Insurance Co., many trial lawyers contend, tries to discourage low-damage lawsuits by
fully litigating cases that it once routinely settled.
"There's a sense of righteous indignation," says Robert
I. Reardon Jr., who organized the Connecticut seminar.
Despite efforts to ensure that no defense counsel or member of
the public has access to the seminar and its course materials, news of the classes has
spread among trial lawyers across the nation. The first was held last February in
Washington state, and more have followed. In October alone, trial lawyer groups in
Connecticut, Louisiana and Texas held "How to Hammer Allstate" seminars. Oregon
has one scheduled for March; Alaska, one in January.
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), which has
never held a seminar targeting a specific company, held a CLE telephone conference on
Allstate.
"Allstate is unusual," says ATLA spokesman Carlton
Carl. "They have shown a pattern."
"It started as a grassroots effort," says Mr. Reardon,
of the Reardon Law Firm P.C., in New London, Conn. He heard about the Washington seminar,
liked the idea and put one together for Connecticut.
About 320 lawyers attended the Oct. 1 class in Hartford, Conn.
Since then, he says, he has received a dozen calls from other states asking for
information.
"I think we're in our early stages of recognizing the
problem, and we're in the early stages of trying to deal with it collectively," says
Alonzo T. Stanga III, of Stanga & Mustian P.L.C., of Metairie, La. Mr. Stanga chairs
the auto tort section of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association. He says that the
Louisiana meeting, held in Baton Rouge on Oct. 29, attracted about 225 lawyers. His auto
tort section picked up 46 new members there.
Behind the lawyers' ire with Allstate is their belief that it
purposely forces trial with lowball offers, particularly in cases in which the vehicle
damage is less than $1,000, minimal soft tissue injuries are claimed and the claimant
hires an attorney.
At trial, Allstate litigates aggressively at every step,
demanding a jury, putting on experts and making plaintiffs prove liability. As a result,
overall litigation costs sometimes exceed damages.
Allstate's position
Allstate is proud of its hardball litigation policy, says William
Vainisi, the Allstate assistant general counsel in charge of the program.
"We have never said that plaintiffs' lawyers don't bring
valuable services to their clients," says Mr. Vainisi from Allstate's corporate
headquarters in Northbrook, Ill. "But the key where we take issue with attorney
involvement...is when we get inflated demands and built-up medicals...which impact on
general damages. That inures to nobody's benefits except the trial lawyers'."
The success of the CLE seminars is linked to Allstate's success,
Mr. Vainisi says. "The economic impact on these lawyers has been fairly
significant," he says. "The title, at least in our estimation, is a tag line to
get people to attend."
LePley & Greig P.L.C. name partner Patrick LePley, of
Bellevue, Wash., came up with the name "How to Hammer Allstate" during one of
those gripe sessions about Allstate that a conversation inevitably turns into when two or
more auto tort lawyers meet these days. This chat, between Mr. LePley, Fulton & Tuttle
name partner Bradford J. Fulton and several other auto tort litigators, veered toward
"what are we going to do about it," Mr. Fulton recalls.
Allstate has driven a number of lawyers in Washington state to
refuse minor impact cases because they cannot afford to spend $4,000 to win $8,000, Mr.
Fulton says.
"It works," Mr. Fulton says of Allstate's strategy.
"But there is a core group of us who think we have a duty to fight it."
"The leap was deciding to target a particular insurance
company," says Karen Greig, Mr. LePley's partner. "But we felt the problem in
our state was so acute that we were justified."
Secret sessions
The next step, Ms. Greig says, was to assure attendees that
Allstate would not learn the content of their seminars. So the Washington
association--and, consequently, those that have followed--went to extraordinary lengths to
keep these meetings secret. The seminar was limited to voting members only, and Mr. Fulton
says that he had some friends who practice in Seattle screen the names of the applicants,
looking for defense counsel. Attendees signed nondisclosure agreements, and the sessions
were not videotaped.
(Mr. Vainisi says that Allstate has acquired some course
materials.)
Mr. Fulton chairs a trial lawyer association task force that is
investigating Allstate's practices in Washington. He developed the course outline. Topics
were chosen based on his knowledge of how Allstate handles cases in Washington.
Part of the course described the Allstate litigation policy,
known as MIST (minimal impact soft tissue), and the company's methodology for determining
settlements, which is called COLOSSUS after the computer program that calculates the
offers.
Then the sessions moved into specific strategies for handling
discovery, uninsured claims, negotiations and the actual trial. For instance, one class
was devoted to how to exclude and impeach Allstate's biomechanical expert. In most cases,
Allstate presents at trial an accident reconstruction expert who opines on what happened
during the wreck and calculates the g-force impact on the plaintiff. The biomechanic then
testifies that the g-forces could not have possibly caused the injuries claimed by the
plaintiff.
The Washington state seminar was held on Feb. 18 and, with 340
lawyers, was the highest-attended CLE seminar in the association's history. Because of the
response, the Washington trial lawyers set up another seminar, this time in Spokane on
April 22, that was attended by another 125 lawyers.
"The seminar was really a galvanizing event. It was the
biggest seminar put on, and the whole atmosphere was supercharged," says Ms. Greig,
who served as an instructor.
So many cases are not clear-cut, she says. The defendants, she
found, often were regular people who were just as sympathetic as her injured clients were.
All these shades of gray were not how she pictured the practice of law during her school
days. But she sees one villain clearly.
"Allstate,
without a doubt, wears a black hat," she says. "It's an opportunity to fight a
really bad, creepy presence. How often does that happen?"
