From "Good Hands" to Boxing Gloves: How Allstate Changed Casualty Insurance in America

David Berardinelli & Michael D. Freeman

Format: Binder
Condition: New
Price:
Sale price$295.00

*Plaintiff's Only Product

In 1992 Allstate started a pilot project that has changed the way insurance companies in America treat their customers, leading to record profits for the company. Since that time, 50% of the insurance industry has scrambled to incorporate these techniques. Now, two of the nation's leading experts on Allstate's claims practices divulge the change in Allstate. David Berardinelli is the bad faith lawyer who diligently worked to become the first to obtain the McKinsey Documents unprotected, and discusses them here at length. Michael Freeman, co-author of Litigating Minor Impact Soft Tissue Cases, and the nation's leading expert on injuries in minor impact collisions, discusses Allstate's MIST program.

The book provides instruction for every level of trial lawyer, from those dealing with Allstate on a case-by-case basis on personal injury claims, to the most difficult bad faith and class action cases. It considers why Allstate changed from dealing with policyholders with "Good Hands" to "Boxing Gloves," how to deal with the change at Allstate and other insurers, and how to win against the insurers that use a "Boxing Gloves" mentality when handling claims.

*Thank you for your interest in a plaintiffs-only product

 Part of what makes our materials so unique is that many of them are not available to attorneys who do any type of civil defense work, so the product you’re about to purchase is solely available to civil plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys. This product is also not available to the general public.

 As such, prior to purchase we require all customers to enter into a Binding Agreement with Trial Guides that both ensures that this product reaches its intended audience and also protects us from an intellectual property and distribution (sharing) standpoint.

You will be prompted to sign the agreement before you check out.

Binder: 764 pages; 2nd edition (2008); ISBN: 978-0974324845
Publisher: Trial Guides, LLC
  1. Foreword
  2. Part I: False Promises
  3. Prologue
  4. Casualty Insurance
  5. Insurance and the Can of Mother's Peas
  6. The McKinsey Method
  7. From Sears to CCPR
  8. McKinsey's Original Presentation
  9. The Zero-Sum Economic Game
  10. McKinsey's Closed File Survey
  11. Good Hands or Boxing Gloves
  12. Colossus
  13. The Enron Performance Measures
  14. Boxing Gloves Litigation
  15. The Zero Sum Discovery Game
  16. Winning the Trade Secret Discovery Game
  17. On-Demand Protective Orders
  18. Part II: MIST, CCPR, and Fraud
  19. Prologue
  20. MIST Segmentation Protocols
  21. The Science of MIST
  22. MIST and Biomechanics
  23. MIST Experts
  24. Part III: Colossus
  25. Part IV: The McKinsey Slides
  26. A. The McKinsey Slides 1-999
  27. B. The McKinsey Slides 1000-1999
  28. C. The McKinsey Slides 2000-2999
  29. D. The McKinsey Slides 3000-3999
  30. E. The McKinsey Slides 4000-4999
  31. F. The McKinsey Slides 5000-5999
  32. G. The McKinsey Slides 6000-6999
  33. H. The McKinsey Slides 7000-7999
  34. I. The McKinsey Slides 8000-8999
  35. J. The McKinsey Slides 9000-9999
  36. K. The McKinsey Slides 10000-10999
  37. L. The McKinsey Slides 11000-11999
  38. M. The McKinsey Slides 12000-12999
  39. Part V: The McKinsey Slide Pictures
  40. N. The McKinsey Slide Pictures
  41. Table of Authorities
  42. Index

What Legal Leaders Are Saying

This book delves deep into the dark heart of the profit-boosting strategies that “efficiency” consulting firm McKinsey & Company cooked up with Allstate and the dramatic negative impact they have had on policyholders.

— United Policyholders

Where was this book twenty-five years ago when I started prosecuting personal injury cases? To understand how Allstate works you only need to read a few pages. This is truly a fantastic book.

— Mark A. Steinberg, Steinberg & Linn, PA

This work presents an excellent explanation of the source of the MIST defense and will be of use in both MIST cases and the bad faith cases that accompany them. To beat your enemy you must first know your enemy.

— William D. Robison, Vancouver, Washington

I began reading this book and was captivated not only the knowledge that it provided to those of us lawyers who will still try a soft tissue case but as a standalone novel. The story reads like a Tom Clancy novel with the cast of evil characters trying to distort the tort system and deny rightful compensation to those who seek it.

— Joel B. Robbins, Phoenix, Arizona

Good Hands To Boxing Gloves is a must-read for every attorney who litigates automobile accident cases and should be in every litigator’s library. Dr. Freeman’s chapters methodically debunk the junk science of the MIST (minor impact soft tissue) defense with ease and eloquence. Don’t handle another soft tissue case without reading this treatise!

— Melvin B. Wright, Florida

If only we could get this information to the masses, or, more importantly, to the legislative bodies and judiciary. This book should be required reading for them all, and for every applicant for an insurance license or insurance industry job.

— Gregory W. Bagen, New York

The book re-inspired me and recharged my batteries. The exposure of the blatant misrepresentations that Allstate has used to cheat innocent victims can really stoke the fire to fight for justice.

— Steven E. Heintz, Florida

Michael D. Freeman, Ph.D., one of the nations leading forensic epidemiologists, has built his career fighting against junk science in the courtroom. Dr. Freeman is to be congratulated for his outstanding work in protecting victims’ rights.

— Bruce H. Stern, Esq., past chair of ATLA Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and the Motor Vehicle, Premises, and Highways Section

David Berardinelli’s book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves is an essential tool for any trial lawyer handling bad faith claims against Allstate. This is definitely a book Allstate doesn’t want you to read but one which I highly recommend!

— Kenneth J. Allen, kenallenlaw.com

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.

Chicago Tribune, “Author throws punch at Allstate,” May 3, 2006

In great detail, the slides show how [Allstate] shareholders could profit from the new way of handling claims, according to Berardinelli’s notes. Based on public financial reports, Berardinelli estimates that Allstate has made at least $15 billion from CCPR by fighting minor claims, which make up the bulk of payouts.

Lexington Herald-Leader, “Allstate accused of cheating claimants,” July 9, 2006

It’s a story Allstate doesn’t want told.

BusinessWeek, May 1, 2006

My reaction to reading an advanced copy of From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves is WOW!

— Eugene R. Anderson, called “The Dean of Policyholder’s Attorneys” by BusinessWeek

Through many years of intense litigation against Allstate, Mr. Berardinelli has captured the essence of Allstate’s, and for that matter, the entire insurance claims industry’s, business practices.

— Lawrence A. Anderson, president of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association

This book is phenomenal in bringing the wrongdoings of a major company to light. It is about time that the truth be told!

— Shannon Kmatz, former Allstate adjuster

Through extraordinary effort, David Berardinelli has accomplished what insurance consumer advocates have been pursuing for a decade. He has exposed the smoking guns behind corporate malfeasance in the mold of Enron.

— Robert J. Hommel, Esq., Scottsdale, Arizona

This book is a must-read for personal injury and bad faith trial lawyers engaged in cases with Allstate.

— Calvin Thur, Scottsdale, Arizona