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The John G. Kelly Editorial Comment:
There is more than one side to metrics and statistical measurement. The lead Litigation Management Strategy article in this month’s issue, The “Other Sides’” Metrics, is intended as a wake-up call to litigation managers who may have become self absorbed with their ambitious metrics based measurement programs. Readers know that I am a strong proponent of performance measurement on a strategic scale in litigation management programs. However, what litigation managers on the insurer side often forget or neglect is to appreciate that “the other side,” in this instance insurance defense firms, also have performance measurement programs in place. The message in the article is for litigation managers to take a look at what drives performance on the law firm side and use it as a lever for your litigation management program.
Then it is on to some very real metrics directly related to insurers. Readers may recall my mention in a previous issue of my involvement as co-chair of the UTBMS Ad Hoc Update Committee. Commensurate to that, we have formed an insurer sub-committee to look at the UTBMS Litigation Code Set specifically from an insurance defense perspective. Are insurers using the code set to its full potential? Do they want changes? How about an insurance defense code set? Refer to this month’s John G. Kelly Report for answers to these questions and a summary of a recent UTBMS survey completed by a core group of major insurers.
I do not want you to get too comfortable with statistics and metrics. There is more than just the other side to look at when performing any kind of statistical analysis. You also have to ask yourself, “Are you even measuring what is meaningful and relevant, and what are some different ways of evaluating the results of statistics?” In an updated variation of the oft quoted euphemism, Damned Statistics and Lies, this month’s Ideas focuses on a review of Freakonomics. This is the controversial non-fiction best seller business book that implies that there is as much fiction as fact to many statistics thrown at us under the guise of conventional wisdom.
Enjoy
John
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The “Other Sides’” Metrics
It is not that law firms do not care about metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Law firms are ubiquitous users of benchmarks against which performance is measured by metrics that focus on KPIs. The problem is that the KPIs that are core to law firm performance are different than those of insurers. That makes sense when you realize that the mission for a claims/litigation management department is legal expense management while the mission of a law firm is revenue maximization. Despite all the talk of partnering, litigation managers and outside counsel are “on the other side” from one another when it comes to litigation management. They share a common goal of serving the best interests of the insured. However, there is a healthy tension between them on how to best do so, strategic case management by the litigation manager versus best practice application of jurisprudence through the exercise of independent professional judgment by the lawyer. Litigation managers need to become knowledgeable about law firm metrics and learn to leverage that knowledge base into their outside counsel management program... click here
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G. Kelly Report |
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UTBMS Update Exclusive
The Uniform Task Based Management System (UTBMS) is alive and well, but not necessarily very well. That is the consensus from a survey recently conducted by the insurance industry subcommittee of the UTBMS Update Ad Hoc Committee (refer to www.utbms.com for details on the committee structure and terms of reference). In the survey of 14 major insurers, 11 indicated that they have mandated that all law firms task code their bills. However, among those that have bought into task based bill coding four have also felt the need to modify and/or embellish the codes to make them fully functional. And therein is the problem and need for this subcommittee and its ambitious agenda. Your editor is co-chair of the Update Committee and co-facilitator of the insurance subcommittee. I want to take this opportunity to provide LMR readers with an inside look at some of the more significant findings and invite you to provide me with feedback… click here
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Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt
Stephen J. Dubner
William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Are statistics just damned lies displayed in a pie chart? There is another side to all of those statistics litigation managers depend on to analyze data and generate business intelligence. Moreover, you can not depend on the experts to decipher the truth. “Experts are humans and humans respond to incentives. How any given expert treats you, therefore, will depend on how that expert’s incentives are set up.”... click
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