When Walter Chrysler left General Motors in 1919, he was involved in a bitter disagreement with GM founder Billy Durant over Durant’s operating priorities, his management style, and what Chrysler viewed as his refusal to recognize untapped opportunities to control costs and improve efficiency. Chrysler was later quoted as saying:
“The reason so many people never get anywhere in life is because when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers.”
If you manage litigated claims for an insurer, you know what it’s like to manage problems. Litigated claim files are trouble. They are difficult to reserve appropriately, they have long shelf lives, and they present the possibility of surprise verdicts, new unfavorable law, bad publicity, and even excess or extra-contractual exposures. They also consume a significant portion — 70% or so at many companies — of a claims organization’s loss and allocated expense spend.
Unfortunately, litigated claims become even more challenging when communication between attorneys and litigation managers isn’t effective, collaboration isn’t happening, or essential information necessary for claim evaluation hasn’t been developed (or can’t be located). That’s one reason why litigation managers are constantly looking for opportunities to improve communication and enhance the thoroughness, quality and reliability, and availability of critical claim information.
There are lots of litigation management solutions in the market, but solutions are useful only when they directly target the problem or opportunity. If they don’t, even though they look interesting or promising, they are distractions, just like Chrysler’s four-leaf clovers.
Fortunately, if you want to help legal and claims professionals collaborate more effectively on your toughest claims, you don’t need to be out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers. ClaimEdge is a highly secure collaboration platform designed to help attorneys and litigation managers communicate more effectively, make better decisions, reduce costs, and improve claim outcomes.
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