Important new research on "minor impact" cases: "the injury risk of real-world minimal damage rear impact crashes was estimated to be at least 2000 times greater than for any ADL. The results of our analysis indicate that the principle underlying the biomechanical injury causation approach, that occupant acceleration is a proxy for injury risk, is scientifically invalid. The biomechanical approach to injury causation in minimal damage crashes invariably results in the vast underestimation of the actual risk of such crashes, and should be discontinued as it is a scientifically invalid practice."

In an article about McKinsey & Co.'s impact on business and society published in "In These Times" the media continues to cite Trial Guides' From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.

"The McKinsey-designed insurance strategy was major news through the 2000s. This was thanks to numerous lawsuits by both private attorneys and state officials like Foti, who went to war with Allstate and State Farm on behalf of consumers railroaded by the companies after not just auto collisions and fires, but natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes.

A new version of our popular Colossus Forms CD for doctors is being released today. It is an update to one of Trial Guides' earliest products.

The majority of all auto insurers in the U.S. use computerized assessment software to determine bodily injury settlement offers. Most of them conceal its use or allege they no longer use the software. The most widely used bodily injury claim software is called Colossus, but there are others regularly used by large insurers including Liability Navigator, and ClaimIQ. Colossus and other bodily...

Book Review by Public Adjustor Jonathan F. Sadick, SPPA

Introducing a webinar CLE recording "Good Hands to Boxing Gloves: Allstate, McKinsey and the Enron Business Model" featuring speakers David Berardinelli & Amy Bach.

From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves is the most talked about legal text in the last generation. It's received feature stories on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, as well as in BusinessWeek and Money.

Now get the background about why settlement offers are down. Why insurers spend more to defend claims than to resolve them, and drag litigation out as long as possible. It's time that every lawyer understand the "Deny-Defend-Delay" strategy being used by insurers.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has named the Top 10 Worst Insurance Companies in America.  In doing so, it cites Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves and articles arising from publicity around that book as the basis for naming Allstate the #1 worst insurer in America.

The 29 page report has a section for each of the ten worst insurers.  The section on Allstate notes at footnote 11 "There is no better analysis of [Allstate's] McKinsey documents than the book, 'From Good Hands’ to Boxing Gloves,' by David Berardinelli, Michael Freeman, and Aaron DeShaw.  Many of AAJ's citations to articles about Allstate's institutional "Deny, Delay, Defend" policy cite the book as the authoritative source on Allstate's policies and procedures as well as the way they have impacted the rest of the insurance industry.  These include the feature articles by BusinessWeek, Money magazine, CNN and others.

In a story titled "AIG chief didn't always defend sanctity of contracts" released April 12, 2008, the New Orleans Times—Picayune cites Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves as a reason Allstate Insurance released the McKinsey Documents on its web site a week earlier.

"An epidemiologist testified Tuesday that assumptions in an Allstate claims handling manual about how much force passengers endure in low-speed wrecks have no scientific basis.

“These numbers are impossible, and they are just made up,” said Michael Freeman, an epidemiologist at Oregon Health and Science University testifying in the second day of a $1.425 billion civil trial in Fayette Circuit Court challenging Allstate Insurance Co.’s claims handling practices."

The following article is published in Bloomberg Markets [Since removed from the internet] It provides one of the most comprehensive public media stories covering the serious problems in the insurance industry in America caused by programs of defense, delay and denial of claims.

The Insurance Hoax

By David Dietz and Darrell Preston

Julie Tunnell remembers standing in her debris-strewn driveway when the tall man in blue jeans approached. Her northern San Diego tudor-style home had been incinerated a week earlier in the largest wildfire in California history. The blaze in October and November 2003 swept across an area 19 times the size of Manhattan, destroying 2,232 homes and killing 15 people. Now came another blow.

The following is a post by PBS regarding its investigation into insurance claim denials and underpayments in the United States [since removed from the internet]. The story cites Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves. It is accompanied by a video "Home Insurance 9-1-1" [which has also since been removed from the internet]:

In the fall of 2003, one of the largest recorded wildfires in California's history destroyed over 2,200 houses and killed fifteen people. Soon after, many who'd lost their homes had a rude awakening: their insurance did not nearly cover their losses as expected.

Think You're Insured? Maybe Not.

That is the title of a new article by CNN Money magazine discussing insurance claim practices. The basis for the article is Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.  

On February 7, 2007, CNN released its findings from an 18 month investigation into Allstate and State Farm Insurance, and the companies' decision to deny claims to increase profits. The feature focuses on the Trial Guides book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves, and features co-authors David Berardinelli, Esq. and Dr. Michael Freeman.

Money magazine released a new article today titled "Hardball with homeowners" by Walter Updegrave and Kate Ashford on the topic of improper claim delays and denials. Addressing the impact of improper claim denials and delays in hurricane claims and the use of the Xactimate program (analogous to the Colossus program for bodily injury claims), the authors cite the Trial Guides book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves and its primary author David Berardinelli.

CNN has released a new expose on the insurance claims handling by State Farm and Allstate, titled "Auto Insurers Play Hardball in Minor-Crash Claims. The article covers the topic in Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.

The beginning of the article notes:

"If you are injured in a minor car crash, chances are good that you will be in the fight of your life to get the insurance company to pay all the medical costs you incur -- even if the accident was no fault of your own.

Below is a Transcript of CNN’s Expose on Allstate and State Farm [since removed from CNN and all web video services.] Wed., Feb. 7, 2007

Insurance companies fight paying billions in claims

"ANDERSON COOPER: Traffic accidents, of course, are a fact of life. So is dealing with insurance companies. You pay them to protect you. That’s the idea. But some accident victims say they’re being forced to settle or go to court because
the claims are denied.

We wanted to know the facts, and in a CNN investigation, we looked into
whether some big name insurers are more interested in profit than
policyholders..."

We recently received the following lawyer success story using the information in From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves - How Allstate Changed Casualty Insurance in America.

“David Berardinelli's book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves is an essential tool for any trial lawyer handling bad faith claims against Allstate. The book details how Allstate redesigned its claims handling process to offer policyholders a very simple choice: accept less than fair value for your claims or face a battery of lawyers and years of costly litigation.

Eugene Anderson is a pioneer in the field of insurance law, and and is an icon in the field of insurance law.  He is the founding member of Anderson Kill, arguably the leading insurance coverage law firm in the United States.  Gene has written several legal treatises and legal journal articles on insurance, including Insurance Coverage Litigation, the ABA Manual for Complex Insurance Coverage Litigation, and more. Some even say that Anderson's career fighting insurers was the inspiration for John Grisham’s The Rainmaker. 

So, we are pleased to announce that Mr. Anderson has agreed to write the introduction to Trial Guides' upcoming book “From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.”  

Here is his introduction:

Today the Chicago Tribune featured Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves in and article titled "Author throws punch at Allstate."

“Allstate Corp., fresh from fending off criticism about its response to policyholders affected by Hurricane Katrina, faces another potential storm, this one from an author [David J. Berardinelli] who claims the insurer is forcing policyholders to accept prompt but lower payouts or risk time-consuming and expensive litigation...The book [tells how and why] the nation´s second-largest home and auto insurer treats some policyholders with ‘boxing gloves’ during their time of financial and personal duress, rather than the reassuringly familiar “good hands” highlighted in its advertising.”

A new article by BusinessWeek titled "In Tough Hands at Allstate"

The article notes that From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves "tells the story of the key role played by management consultant McKinsey & Co. in reengineering auto insurance claims operations at Allstate Corp. (ALL ) -- and it's a story Allstate doesn't want told."

Article in Chiropractic Economics:

An Excerpt from Billing and Procedure Denials: What Every Physician Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.

"Have you ever played a game without knowing the rules? It’s difficult to win. Over the last 10 years, chiropractors have been playing a “game” with personal-injury insurers without knowing the rules.

Sometimes they win and get paid for their personal-injury (PI) and healthcare claims; sometimes they lose.

This month, the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association Journal published an excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.

INSURANCE FIRM PREYS ON VICTIMS OF LOW-IMPACT CRASHES, ATTORNEYS SAY By Brandon Ortiz, HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

"Allstate Insurance Co. is engaging in a systematic and fraudulent scheme to make obtaining fair offers for damage claims so difficult that victims accept low offers rather than pursue costly and time-consuming litigation, attorneys for a Richmond woman argued yesterday in Fayette Circuit Court..."

A new legal Colossus forms CD is released today, to supplement the new book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.

Approximately 70 percent of all auto insurers in the U.S. use bodily injury assessment software to determine claim value. Most of them conceal its use. The most widely used bodily injury claim software is called Colossus, but there are others also used by large insurers including Claims Outcome Advisor.  Bodily injury assessment programs require specific information in order to generate claim value in a client's case.  

The Colossus Forms CD provides lawyers with the legal forms necessary when dealing with modern insurance companies on personal injury cases.

We are proud to announce the release of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.  The book is the definitive resource for lawyers who handle auto insurance claims practices, and how they impact both the writing of insurance demand letters, as well as insurance bad faith implications.  The book is the result of three years of research, including non-protected claim manuals from several insurers, non-protected Colossus manuals, original programming documents from Australia, as well as interviews with claims adjustors, claim supervisors and even Lee Fogle - director of bodily injury software at ISO who oversees the Claim Outcome Advisor program.  

Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know is the definitive resource for doctors who handle personal injury cases on the insurance claims process involving their patients.  

The book provides physicians clear guidance on dealing with personal injury cases that will be analyzed by claims assessment software including Colossus.

Presently, nearly 70% of auto accident cases in the U.S. are evaluated by claims assessment software. The book provides physicians an insider’s view of the medical and legal defects in the programs used by 16 of the Top 20 auto insurance companies in the US.