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The John G. Kelly Editorial Comment:
It is necessary to step outside the envelope once in a while and get a look at the big picture. For insurers and litigation managers, the big picture is dominated by the battle for tort reform between corporate litigation departments, in which insurers are a dominant presence, and the trial plaintiffs’ bar. This month’s Litigation Management Strategy CaseStudy focuses on the leadership role that State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company has taken on in tort reform through General Counsel Kim Brunner’s Co-Chairmanship of the Civil Justice Reform Group (CJRG). Every litigation manager has at one time or another given at least a fleeting thought to becoming involved in one of the national associations. The case study on Steve McManus, Associate General Counsel, who is active on the CJRG Operations Committee, is a good barometer of what both the organization and the individual have to be prepared to give in order to take something that is of value back to the organization. Is it worth it for your company and you to take the national initiative plunge? Read and be the judge.
The John G. Kelly Report provides litigation managers with what might seem like several obvious and straightforward issues that everyone in insurance defense should be proactively addressing by making them part of their public lexicon. As obvious as they will seem upon reading, ask yourself whether and to what degree your company is getting the Tort Reform message out by making your case just to your customer base. Give some thought to packaging them in an information brochure and distributing them to key audiences.
Blink. This best selling book is not about how to get the other person to back down in some variation of who’s getting who to blink first. This is a big Ideas book that will make you blink once you read about how relying on your intuition to make quick decisions in the blink of an eye arguably results in decisions and courses of action that are as valid and value added as those which have been painstakingly thought out and drawn out through a convoluted group thought process.
John G. Kelly
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Management Strategy |
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State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company - A Case Study on Activism
Sometimes you have to be prepared to become part of a bigger picture to effectuate change. State Farm Insurance under the leadership of Executive Vice President and General Counsel Kim M. Brunner (Brunner) and Associate General Counsel Steve McManus (McManus) are an excellent case study on how an insurer can make a difference in the big picture of civil justice reform. Brunner is Co-Chair of the Civil Justice Reform Group (CJRG) and McManus sits on the Operations Committee.... click here
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G. Kelly Report |
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Tort Reform
Litigation tourists and their travel agent trial lawyers may have been stopped from landing in courts of convenience that have earned the dubious distinction of “judicial hellholes” because of their propensity to permit the filing of spurious class actions. However the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), recently enacted by Congress, requiring class actions exceeding $5 million to be filed in federal courts before appointed judges instead of state court elected judges is only a start on the road to tort reform. This month’s interview with Steve McManus of the Civil Justice Reform Group (CJRG) is a must-read in conjunction with this report to get a full picture of the just how much longer and difficult that journey is. This report will provide litigation managers with a perspective on key issues that need to be addressed as part of that journey… click here
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| Ideas |
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Blink
Malcolm Gladwell, New York, Little Brown and Company Time Warner Group (2005)
Think! Plan! Act! This is the sure way to make correct decisions, right? Wrong! That is the startling message in New York Times reporter Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book which has become a hot bestseller. “The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.” And Gladwell goes on page after page to make a most convincing case.... click
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