Disruptive Lawyering is Our Default

Sometimes we get cases that “look” like complicated cluster messes; ones that’ll take the sort of time and budgets that keep Dinosaur Lawyers in business for years.. 

But since we’re not Dino Lawyers, even when we’ve got the green light to spend more , we take the “Right Mindset and Skill Set” approach, and aim to spend less so we can pass that savings onto our clients. 

We do this by disrupting the tried-and-true processes by looking for solutions in places that might not be so obvious. We dig substantially deeper than the Dinos. We think imaginatively, creatively and then act proactively. 

Our goal? To solve cases swiftly and prudently, avoiding the time-wasting Dino Lawyer methods that lead to huge legal fees and many times higher indemnity costs.  And, that does NOT always mean settle. Sometimes proactively sharing key information with plaintiff’s lawyer may lead them to drop the case before they invest time/money into it.  Once they invest in a case, they have no choice but to go forward.

Delivering client “wins” in the most economical and efficient fashion is our primary goal at Cruser Mitchell.

Let’s disrupt something. 

Bill

Do You Have an Autonomous Disruptive Lawyer?

While at CLM (Claims and Litigation Management Alliance) in San Francisco recently, I ordered a ride in a Waymo autonomous vehicle. As the driverless taxi pulled up, it reminded me of the headless horseman from the horror movie, Sleepy Hollow–it was creepy. 

I got in, anyway. 

Surprisingly, the Waymo drove like a seasoned chauffeur. It complied with all traffic control devices,anticipated road hazards, and handled them brilliantly. My wife and I enjoyed paying attention to one another, rather than being distracted by driving. We arrived at our destination safely and timely.      

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the claims industry could send a lawsuit to a lawyer, and then press an Autonomous Lawyer button.

Then I remembered we’d just wrapped up a case recently where just like the Waymo, we handled the matter autonomously, saving the insurer over $250,000 in legal fees. 

Here’s what happened in our Waymo-like process.

The case involved two catastrophic injury victims from a construction incident. The plaintiff sued the general contractor and a dozen subcontractor defendants.   

Because the insured had a relationship with our law firm, they demanded that its new carrier use us. We were not on the new carrier’s panel and there was some resistance, but the carrier finally relented. 

Upon investigating, we concluded it was a very dangerous case, but our client had no duty  related to the incident, and felt confident the general contractor would ultimately agree. 

However, we also knew the case would involve dozens of depositions, a handful of experts, thousands of documents, and volumes of motions. We presented this in our 30-day report; our legal budget would be $300,000. 

We knew we needed to extract the client from the case as quickly as possible, so the carrier could avoid the legal fees and the insured could avoid unpredicted exposure, so we recommended a plan to achieve these results. 

We sent emails to the insurer. We left voicemails. 

The insurer never responded.   

We moved forward, anyway. Over the next 60 days, we continued with our plan, because it required strategic execution and timing. 

The insurer was remained unresponsive.   

After sharing key discovery with the plaintiff, we set up a call to propose a deal (subject to client approval) where the insured would be dismissed. On the call, plaintiffs’ counsel expressed their concerns or, as I call them, hurdles to the deal initially stating they had nothing to gain by dismissing us.. However, employing the “Skill Set,” we  addressed each hurdle and ultimately suggested accommodations, subject to client approval,  including a tolling agreement if somehow the evidence changed. 

Ultimately, the plaintiffs’ counsel agreed to dismiss the insured from the case agreeing to the accommodating terms.  With a concrete proposal in place, we finally had our first call with the carrier representative who was surprised we were able to work out this deal and authorized same.   The representative noted, “Wow, this never happens.”

In sum, for a carrier that refused to add us to panel and did not direct the litigation in any manner, we saved them $270,000 (as we billed around $30,000 in executing our plan).        

In the call, we said, “That’s how we do things at Cruser Mitchell. We have the right mindset and skill set. And part of the mindset is to have the values to do the right thing no matter what. 

We added there was no charge for the investment and training in Cruser Mitchell’s  Autonomous Disruptive Lawyer Program.   

THERE’S OFTEN MORE TO THE STORY THAN MEETS THE EYE 

You might’ve seen the recent story about Corey Harris, the 44-year-old Michigan man who broke the internet with his TikTok video of appearing via a Zoom call for his court hearing on charges of driving with a suspended license–from behind the wheel of a car. 

Judge Cedric J. Simpson couldn’t believe his eyes, and asked him if he was driving.

“I’m pulling into the doctor’s office, actually,” said Harris. “Just give me one second. I’m parking right now.” 

It was a face palm moment – the judge shook his head, not believing how anyone could be so foolish. Then he ordered him to jail. 

But it was the judge, not Harris, who’d made a mistake. The judge didn’t take the time to learn the facts about Harris’ story; even worse, he wouldn’t have had to look very hard to find out more.

It turns out Harris’ license had been suspended for not paying child support, but in January of 2022, a judge rescinded the order so his license could be reinstated. Somehow this wasn’t communicated to the secretary of state’s office, the video went viral, and he became a laughingstock. 

It doesn’t take a genius to do a quick check of someone’s records before humiliating them in public, and then sending them to jail–Harris was unnecessarily locked up for two days. 

The day that Harris made that fateful Zoom call, he was taking his wife to get emergency medical help. 

Looking only at what’s on the surface is a preventable, and often damaging mistake many legal professionals make. 

We do things differently at Cruser Mitchell. We dig around in places other lawyers might not think about. We ask questions instead of assuming what we see is all there is to the story.

LISTEN TO OUR CLAIMS INDUSTRY PODCAST!

Cruser Mitchell partner Meghan Henry’s new podcast, Claims Never Sleep, deep dives into claims-related topics with industry insiders who share anecdotes about real cases, trends, and more. 

Have you tuned into the Claims Never Sleep podcast yet? Don't miss out on our recent episodes, featuring industry leaders Nick Turdo, Director of Claims at Metrick 360 Risk Management, Evelyn Eury, with Crum & Forster, Kathleen Cetola, Director of Claims at US Acute Care Solutions, Laura Schoefer, VP of Claims at NBIS, and Lenore Chouinard, Director of Claims at Hartford Steam Boiler, to name a few. 

If you haven't tuned in yet, what are you waiting for?

TEQUILA CORNER

Mark your calendars! National Tequila day, July 24, is just around the corner! 

When you want a non-fussy, quick cocktail, Ranch Water checks all the boxes. If you’ve got limes, sparkling water, and tequila, you’re there!

Ranch Water

• ​​1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila

• 1 ounce fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving

• Topo Chico or your favorite sparkling water

1. Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour in the tequila and lime juice. 

2. Add sparkling water. Gently stir. Add a lime wedge and serve at once.

Key Traits of Great Litigation Managers and Master Negotiators  

The first of a series

I’m always talking about how Master Negotiators need to have the “Right Mindset and Skill Set.”  

The “Right Mindset” means finding a “win” for the client by wrapping up a case in the most economical and efficient way, and the “Right Skill Set” is putting the necessary steps into action to accomplish this. 

But how does someone develop the “Right Mindset and Skill Set?” 

What are the traits we should be looking for and developing with our team?

After some deep thinking (which is a big stretch for me), I identified:

• Proactiveness

• Intelligence

• Emotional Intelligence

• Tenacity

• Imagination and Creativity

• Good Values  

I’ll start with a deep dive into the first one. I’ll talk about the rest in subsequent newsletters. 

Proactiveness 

It’s important to take immediate action when a claim or case is assigned, because the best time to resolve a case is usually before significant time, money, and emotion is invested. 

A case or claim is similar to buying a house. 

If counsel sees a money pit, they: (a) may not buy the house and walk away or (b) take a considerable discount and put their energy on a more lucrative investment.  

On the other hand, if counsel spends 100 hours on the case, and $25,000 on discovery, they simply have no choice but to throw good money after bad, and litigate it to its jointly expensive conclusion.   

Proactive investigation and evaluation allows for strategic transparency. It sets up a “walk away” or voluntary dismissal, or at worst a de minimis settlement. 

Heck, who knows, claimant’s counsel may share some very prejudicial evidence with you that your team didn’t appreciate, which may allow you to avoid paying exorbitant defense legal fees, only to have learned that the case from a defense side is a money pit!

Thanks for reading The Disruptive Lawyer’s Little Newsletter.

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