Tragos, Sartes, & Tragos Logo
ATTORNEYS
George E. Tragos Pete A. Sartes Peter L. Tragos
PRACTICE AREAS
Personal Injury
Back Injury Brain Injury Catastrophic Injury Product Liability Wrongful Death Nursing Home Abuse Insurance Disputes
Auto & Vehicle Accidents
Motorcycle Accident Truck Accident Pedestrian Accident Accidents in Tampa Hit & Run
Medical Malpractice Criminal Defense
Premises Liability
Slip & Fall Negligent Security
Sexual Abuse
AWARDS
Testimonials Case Results
PODCASTS
RESOURCES
Personal Injury Guide Blog In The News Video Center Video FAQs
COVID-19 UPDATES
CONTACT
Tragos, Sartes, & Tragos
Attorneys Awards Testimonials Case Results Podcasts Blog In The News Personal Injury Guide Video Center Video FAQs Contact Us
Personal Injury
Back Injury Brain Injury Catastrophic Injury Product Liability Wrongful Death Nursing Home Abuse Insurance Disputes
Auto & Vehicle Accidents
Accidents in Tampa Common Truck Accidents Hit & Run Motorcycle Accident Pedestrian Accident Truck Accident
Medical Malpractice Criminal Defense Premises Liability
Common Slip and Fall Injuries Slip & Fall Negligent Security
Sexual Abuse
OPEN PRACTICE AREAS
Categories
 
Archive

We’re from the Insurance Company. We’re Here to Help.

October 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

People are constantly asking me why they need a lawyer when it is obvious that the person who caused the accident is liable and the other person’s insurance company “should pay all the damages and make sure all the injured people are compensated appropriately.” Most laypeople don’t understand what we who deal with insurance companies and injury claims on a daily basis know all too well: The insurance company is not your friend. They are not your “neighbor,” and they don’t care about you. In fact, the insurance company owes its allegiance to its shareholders to maximize their profit which, in essence, means bringing in as many dollars as possible in premiums and paying out as few dollars as possible in the form of claims. Insurance companies engage in conduct that they design to affect a litigant’s ability to gain favorable compensation. These events occur in such forms as legislative tort reform (which is designed to change the law to limit a person’s right to recover for their injuries) and in forum shopping (which is the act of pigeonholing injured persons to where and how they can bring claims against the company). State Farm recently demonstrated to what lengths an insurance company will go to affect the playing field for deciding injury cases.

But first, some background: In 1999, an Illinois state court awarded State Farm’s customers $456,000,000.00 for a breach of contract claim that they had brought alleging State Farm had used sub-standard replacement parts to repair its own insured’s vehicles. In addition to the verdict, the trial judge added an additional $730,000,000.00 in damages on a separate fraud claim because the company tried to hide what they were doing. The total award to the plaintiffs was $1,186,000,000.00 (yes, billion). Of course, State Farm appealed, and the appellate court reduced the 1.186 billion dollar verdict to $1,056,000,000.00, which was still one of the largest class action awards in U.S. legal history.

In 2004, Judge Lloyd Karmeier, who had been a circuit court judge for almost 20 years, won his bid for election to the Illinois Supreme Court. A year later, the Supreme Court (now including Justice Lloyd Karmeier) threw out the billion dollar award, and the United States Supreme Court refused to review the case. This ruling ended State Farm’s obligation to pay the billion dollars to the grieved people.

In an unrelated twist, the United States Supreme Court rendered a ruling involving a large coal mining company, Massey Energy Co., in 2009. That ruling held that judges are obligated to recuse themselves (take themselves off a case) where their top campaign contributors are parties to a claim. (You would think this would be common sense, but apparently it is not). Upon review of Judge Karmeier’s 2004 election contributions, it became clear that State Farm had funded more than 3.5 million dollars of the 4 million dollars raised by Justice Karmeier’s election campaign in 2004. Worse yet, State Farm had concealed the true source of those donations by providing the campaign contributions through a number of advocacy groups that did not disclose State Farm as their donor.

Based on the 2009 Supreme Court decision, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois by the name of Hale v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 12-CV-00660, accusing State Farm of fraud under the federal Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). On the eve of trial, State Farm settled the case for $250,000,000.00. Of course, State Farm contends that the $250,000,000.00 settlement was designed to settle the claim without admitting liability to any wrongdoing.

It isn’t just State Farm that engages in less-than-honorable practices. Other insurance carriers, particularly GEICO, were notorious in the State of Florida for sending representatives to appear at court ordered mediations without providing them any authority to settle claims. After some litigation, Rule 1.720 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure was enacted. Plaintiff’s lawyers affectionately referred to this recent rule amendment as “The GEICO Rule,” which now requires parties who appear at mediations to have full authority to settle without consultation in order for a good faith mediation to occur or risk court sanctions.

Still wonder if you need an attorney to help you with your personal injury case?

Category iconFirm News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

START WITH A FREE CONSULTATION
YOU DON'T PAY UNLESS WE WIN
CONTINGENT FEE CASES ONLY
map text background
CLEARWATER
2363 Gulf to Bay Blvd Ste 100
(727) 441-9030
Tragos, Sartes, & Tragos Logo

SIGNUP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

TAMPA

100 S. Ashley Drive, Suite 600
Tampa, FL 33624

(813) 223-6405DIRECTIONS »
ST. PETERSBURG

360 Central Ave. #800
St. Petersburg 33701

(727) 441-9030DIRECTIONS »

Important Links:Home • Clearwater • Pinellas County • St. Petersburg • Tampa • Personal Injury Guide

Our team of experienced Clearwater personal injury lawyers fight for you and ensure you get what is deserved due to the negligence of another.

Areas We Serve: Clearwater • Tampa • St. Petersburg • South Florida Cities

 

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2021     Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Statement Lawyer Marketing Services by Fuel Web Marketing