Risk & Insurance articles from September 2007

Risk & Insurance archives from September 2007

Air most foul.
September 1, 2007... It's hard to believe that it's now almost exactly six years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. And yet the damage from the cleanup to as many as 100,000 victims has yet to be resolved. The damage to the workers'...

Oligarchy alternative.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Dear Editor, Should brokerage oligarchies reign forever, as Erin Fogg points out (Risk & Insurance[R], April 1, 2007, Page 58)? Or do they form a "cartel" ripe to be "split up," as Cyril Tuohy counters? An interesting debate, but it's...

Making an impression.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Dear Editor, I have been reading Peter Rousmaniere's columns for years, but his column on fixing errors (Risk & Insurance[R], June 1, 2007, Page 20) is so insightful, so enlightening and so helpful, that I am forced to write and let you...

E-Yikes!(CYBERRISK)
September 1, 2007... Your company sells common chemicals that nevertheless could be used by terrorists to fashion bombs or poison. You're careful about whom you sell to, but a seemingly legitimate entity goes on your Web site and orders these materials. The...

The courts v. the Web.(CYBERRISK)
September 1, 2007... Two recent court cases could redefine the Internet liability landscape for corporations with any sort of presence in Web 2.0. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=22034540

World wide watchdogs.(CYBERRISK)
September 1, 2007... The U.S. government is trying to tackle cyberrisk for its citizens and businesses. And if bureaucracy fails us, there's also the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at...

The WTC Task Force.(IN-DEPTH SERIES)
September 1, 2007... Donald Elisburg and John Moran submitted a report to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on the WTC work site. Their findings were not pretty. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at...

Safety and health at ground zero.(IN-DEPTH SERIES)
September 1, 2007... An on-site union hygienist provides his up-close perspective on safety and health at ground zero. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=22043206

Rating ERM.(SPECIAL REPORT)
September 1, 2007... Study up on how S&P, A.M. Best and Fitch have all decided to consider how well an insurer carries out enterprise risk management in their ratings. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at...

The reinsurance rounds.(SPECIAL REPORT)
September 1, 2007... See what the industry-wise man and women have been saying about the current state of reinsurance at recent tradeshow sessions. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=22049720

Hokie spirit stays strong.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT)
September 1, 2007... Following the Virginia Tech tragedy, concerned people just spontaneously began making contributions to what was later to become the Hokie Spirit Memorial Funds. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at...

Quote of the month.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... "It became more politically correct to be onshore as opposed to offshore."--NANCY GRAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICA, AON INSURANCE MANAGERS, ON RECENT TRENDS IN CAPTIVE DOMICILES

More for your workers' comp money: study identifies states with "good value" for workers, employers.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... When employers pay more for the medical care of injured workers, employees should experience better outcomes. This "good value proposition" was the subject of a new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, a Cambridge, Mass.-based...

New Vermont formations take a dip: Vermont registers 14 captives in first six months of 2007, four less than last year.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... We've all gone soft! The easing of pricing in the property/casualty market has meant a dip in the number of captive formations in the first six months of this year, according to Vermont captive insurance officials. "There's no question...

Tracking bonds' record: a new bond index from Swiss Re provides needed transparency to CAT bond market, perhaps more.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... About $4.9 billion in catastrophe bonds were issued in 2006, according to the world's biggest reinsurance company, Swiss Re. Just in the first half of 2007, another $3.8 billion were issued. Despite this increased activity, investors might not...

Play nice on the me-re-go-round: report: reinsurance prices declining, reinsurers competing among selves and with capital markets.(On the Web)
September 1, 2007... In the first half of 2007, reinsurers duked it out among themselves while demand for their product dropped, according to the July 1 reinsurance renewal review from Willis Re. "Primary companies are taking a close and clear look at their...

Enterprise ratings management: ERM programs are a "tiebreaker" in ratings reviews only "in some instances," according to consultant.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... Corporations with no serious enterprise risk management programs aren't likely to be penalized when it comes time for a ratings review, according to one ERM expert. Only one ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, has a separate rating category...

Worth repeating.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 1, 2007... "Contractors evidenced little if any attention to safety and health, let alone training, and communications and coordination among the various organizations with respect to safety and health particularly was isolated and difficult at best." ...

The real deal: success in the real-estate sector made Michael Isaacs an owner in his firm.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
September 1, 2007... It pays to be real serious about real estate. Take Michael Isaacs, for example--a senior vice president at Irvine, Calif-based Sullivan Curtis Monroe Insurance Services. He heads up a booming real-estate practice at the firm, one of the...

CIAB takes on China.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers has expressed support for a House resolution calling on China to remove barriers to U.S. financial services firms--including insurance brokers--seeking to do business in China. The resolution asks China...

Boston broker snatched.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... Dallas-based U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. has acquired Boston Insurance Brokerage Inc., expanding the managing general agency and surplus-lines wholesaler's business in New England. Terms of the transaction were not released. Boston Insurance...

Marsh counsel named judge.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... Marsh Inc.'s general counsel has been confirmed as a district judge on the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. Richard J. Sullivan joined Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. as deputy general counsel for litigation in July 2005,...

HRH buys Kansas agencies.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... Hilb Regal & Hobbs Co. has recently acquired Charlton Manley Inc. and The Resource Group. Charlton Manley is a Kansas-based midmarket general-lines agency, and TRG is primarily an employee benefits brokerage end consulting firm. Both firms'...

Willis buys Internet distributor.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... Global insurance broker Willis has acquired Chicago-based Insurance Noodle, an Internet distributor of small business insurance. The acquisition will allow Willis access to InsuranceNoodle's Web-based application end quoting program for...

Aspiring brokers rewarded.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... The INVEST school-to-work program sponsored by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America has awarded 42 scholarships to students pursuing insurance-related degrees. INVEST weighed written essays, GPAs, extracurricular activities and...

Stone Point funds new brokerage.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
September 1, 2007... Former ABD Insurance Services chief executive officer Dan R. Francis and Tri-City Brokerage founder John Hahn have created a new brokerage firm, Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, with $100 million in capital from Trident IV, a private equity...

Why doctors boycott comp.(WORKERS' COMP)
September 1, 2007... In Idaho last year, specialty physicians began to boycott the workers' compensation system when the state introduced for the first time a fee schedule. The crisis was resolved after medical lobbyists and regulators sat down to increase fees....

Father and Son & Co.(ROGER ON RISK)
September 1, 2007... I've got a lot of time for Bob Clements. He's the brains and financial brawn behind Ace, XL Capital, Mid-Ocean, Arch Capital and Ironshore--all among Bermuda's largest insurers and reinsurers, or part of companies larger still--and, oh, yes, he...

Baseball banter beats brokers.(BROKERAGE)
September 1, 2007... For the baseball fans among you, we're well into the silly season as I write this, the dog days of August--deadlines of monthly magazines being what they are--when we sit in the cheap seats shelling peanuts and swapping statistics and tales...

Courts want proactive insurers.(THE LAW)
September 1, 2007... A seminal 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision denied class-action treatment for a nationwide settlement class of asbestos claimants. This further complicated an already complex landscape for finding an efficient mechanism to settle tens of...

Lessons learned from RMIS.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 1, 2007... The terms "software solution" provoke a sense of hope and dread. Ever since computers began to show up in the insurance office, there has been a battle between benefits and shortcomings of software as a work tool. In the end, automation of...

Up in smoke: how safety procedures evaporated during the cleanup of the World Trade Center and how it is now affecting thousands of workers and public employees.(Cover story)
September 1, 2007... In late 2003, Dr. Cynthia Lewis-Younger's Tampa, Fla.-based medical practice, Comprehensive Occupational Medicine for Business and Industry, began receiving patients who had worked in rescue and recovery more than 1,000 miles away at ground...

World Trade Center: breach of trust: how Sept. 11 altered the nation's workers' compensation landscape and eroded the trust implicit between employer and employee.
September 1, 2007... The Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center blasted thousands of tons of asbestos into the air, exposing rescue, recovery and cleanup workers at "the Pile" and in Lower Manhattan to glass fibers, pulverized cement,...

13 days that shook their world: a team of rescue and recovery workers help with the aftermath of Sept, 11, but pay a steep price in terms of their health and out-of-pocket expenses.
September 1, 2007... Summary * Harold Schapelhouman and his 67 team members of California Task Force 3 provided pivotal support at ground zero immediately following Sept. 11. * But their work exposed the firefighters to particulate-dense smoke at the...

A CRAP attitude toward risk: a risk-averse society has spawned pseudoscience and the phenomenon of Compulsive Risk Assessment Psychosis, a U.K. professor argues. Our U.K. contributing editor reports on the inexorable rise of CRAP.(REPORT FROM EUROPE)
September 1, 2007... Summary * Modern society is beset by CRAP, or Compulsive Risk Assessment Psychosis. * Though policymakers, such as former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair, have lamented CRAP, the policies of their governments tend to exacerbate the...

The buzz around the periphery: the application service provider, or ASP, model has been renamed as software-as-a-service, or SaaS. The model, however, is still preferred as a way to provide ancillary services.(TECHNOLOGY)
September 1, 2007... Summary * The application services provider model is now known as the software-as-a-service model. * The model has matured over the past decade, but carriers are not likely to use it for core insurance systems like claims, underwriting...

Using software to cut the cost of compliance: three families of software applications--financial management, workforce management and business intelligence software--can help carriers compete.(ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE)
September 1, 2007... Summary * Insurers have had to reconsider the flow of their business processes and information-technology systems because of the new financial-reporting regulations. * To keep ahead of regulations and their peers, carders should look...

Gray Matters: Nancy Gray is a captive queen at Aon, having earned her crown by juggling a booming business in Vermont with major growth in emerging onshore domiciles. How does she do it?(PROFILE)
September 1, 2007... It would be easier to sympathize with Nancy Gray if she didn't thrive so well in the chaos around her. After all, her responsibilities have intensified in the six years since her employer International Risk Management Group was acquired by...

The world wide whoa: old trusted protections can't be counted on anymore when it comes to content and liability in the wild Web 2.0.(CYBERRISK)
September 1, 2007... Summary * Fair Housing Council v. Roomates.com, LLC was the first case to establish a Web site can be held liable for user postings. * This case unhinged liability protections previously included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act...

The 'cyber' risks of outsourcing: outsourcing does not mean out of mind when it comes to cyberliabilities. Instead, companies with databases full of client and employee information should be even more wary.(LIABILITY)
September 1, 2007... Summary * Outsourcing does not mean cyberliability is out of mind. * Instead, companies who outsource are still responsible for the security of confidential customer and employee information. * Mitigation can be provided through...

Agencies jockey over evaluation models: ratings shops favor either newer capital adequacy models or "traditionalist" approaches to insurance companies' ERM programs.(SPECIAL REPORT: INSURANCE)
September 1, 2007... Summary * S&P chooses to judge insurance companies with the help of new internal capital models. * Fitch has opted to use a stochastic model. * A.M. Best and Moody's are taking more traditional approaches. ********** ...

Price swings in the offing: reinsurance company earnings volatility is more sensitive to catastrophes than it used to be, potentially exposing buyers to greater swings in reinsurance pricing.(SPECIAL REPORT: INSURANCE)
September 1, 2007... Summary * Earnings volatility of reinsurance companies is more sensitive to catastrophes than it used to be. * Catastrophe bonds, sidecars and industry loss warranties can help defray some of the volatility risk. * While...

Pinning down the shifting boundaries of immunity: public colleges and universities are not immune to the legal onslaught that sometimes follows when tragedy strikes. Evolving state statutes could place more legal responsibility on schools.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: HIGHER EDUCATION)
September 1, 2007... When a tragedy like the shootings at Virginia Tech happens, families of students killed or injured look for someone to blame. After all, students are supposed to be safe at school. So when unexpected misfortunes happen, schools are sued for a...

Directory: risk management and employee benefits software.(Directory)
September 1, 2007... DIRECTORY RISK MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SOFTWARE Below are paid listings of specialty software packages for the risk management/employee benefits market. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an...

Liberty Mutual.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... RAYMOND WATERS joined Liberty Mutual as a senior account executive for its major accounts division. Waters will be based in Chicago, tending to clients throughout the Midwest. He previously served as vice president of business development for...

Liberty Mutual Agency Markets.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, appointed JAMES M. MCGLENNON vice president and chief information officer. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, McGlennon oversaw architecture and...

Montgomery Insurance.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... Montgomery Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, appointed CHRISTOPHER PIELA regional vice president, Atlanta region. Piela had been manager, field operations analysis, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, at the Boston corporate headquarters....

ULLICO.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... RICHARD S. LARIMER was named vice president, sales and marketing, in the retirement services division at ULLICO, an insurance and financial-services holding company. Latimer most recently served as senior vice president in the institutional...

New York Life Insurance Co.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... New York Life Insurance Co. announced that CHRISTINE PARK joined the company as vice president of corporate responsibility, managing the company's philanthropic and volunteer activities and serving as president of the New York Life Foundation....

Safety National Casualty Corp.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... Safety National Casualty Corp., a provider of excess workers' compensation insurance, promoted GERALD SCOTT to chief operations officer and DUANE HERCULES to chief financial officer and executive vice president of business development. Scott...

Meritain Health.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... Meritain Health, independent provider of services for self-funded health plans, appointed T.J. MCDONALD regional vice president of sales, focusing on the Florida market. McDonald came to Meritain from Self Insured Plans LLC, where he served as...

Insurance Information Institute.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... CARY SCHNEIDER, senior vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, was elected executive vice president by the organization's board of directors. Prior to joining the Institute in 1977, Schneider was assistant news secretary to...

Computer Sciences Corp.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... Computer Sciences Corp., the global information technology services company, appointed LEE FOGLE vice president of sales for the property/casualty insurance markets in the Americas. Before joining CSC, Fogle served as senior vice president of...

R&R Insurance Services Inc.(EXECUTIVE MOVES)
September 1, 2007... R&R Insurance Services Inc., an independent insurance brokerage firm and partner of Assurex Global based in Waukesha, Wis., promoted JACK RIESCH to commercial sales manager. Riesch joined R&R Insurance in 2004 as an account executive for the...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
September 1, 2007... SEPTEMBER 13-15 NAAIA Summit The National African-American Insurance Association will hold its 2007 National Conference and Empowerment Summit at the Marriott Renaissance in Detroit, Mich. For more information: NAAIA, www....

The guaranty fund system: a public policy success: guaranty funds have met their obligations, to the tune of $21 billion in claims to policyholders whose carriers have become insolvent.(POINT)
September 1, 2007... Perhaps nothing better reflects public policy's virtues and inherent challenges than the state property and casualty guaranty fund system. For nearly 40 years, guaranty funds have fulfilled their original public policy mandate: to protect...

The guaranty fund system: in dire need of reform: when success is measured in reimbursing policyholders over the span of decades at the cost to taxpayers in the hundreds of millions of dollars, something is amiss.(COUNTERPOINT)
September 1, 2007... The guaranty fund system may have served policyholders once upon a time. But that was long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Today the guaranty fund system is broken and it needs a serious fix--now. Policyholders of Pennsylvania-based...

16th Annual National Workers' Compensation and Disability Conference[R] & Expo: November 6-8, 2007.(Conference notes)
September 1, 2007... Conference Highlights OPENING KEYNOTE The Top Challenges: Experts Debate Key Issues in Workers' Compensation and Disability Systems Maddy Bowling, Principal, Maddy Bowling & Associates Consulting, Chicago Dr. Jennifer Christian,...

Sharing the frustration of imprisoned souls.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 15, 2007... New ideas in the insurance and risk management industries are plentiful. Back in the '50s, insurers were the first nongovernmental institutions to adopt the mainframe computer. Later, it was the property/casualty companies that helped create...

Short on balance.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 15, 2007... Dear Editor, The recent article by Peter Rousmaniere (Risk & Insurance[R], July 1, 2007, Page 14) about TPAs deserves some comment. While I agree with most of Rousmaniere's statements, I disagree with the way some of them are...

Taking heat.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
September 15, 2007... Dear Editor, In order for coffee to release its oils, the temperature has to exceed 180 to 190 degrees F when brewing. (See: The Law column by Philip Kircher, Risk & Insurance[R], July 1, 2007, Page 19). As a medic, we are trained to...

Innovation.(On the Web)
September 15, 2007... Finding Money in Silicon Valley In the past, the insurance industry met its technology needs by working with vendors that were influenced by, and took their product cues from, the industry itself. The insurance industry was bogged down...

Climate change.(On the Web)
September 15, 2007... The Supreme Decision The Supreme Court's ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA opens the door wider for corporate liability in global warming. To access this resource, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance....

Quote of the month.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 15, 2007... "The very things they complain about are the things they hide behind."--JAMES BISKER, GLOBAL INSURANCE INDUSTRY LEADER, IBM, ABOUT INSURANCE BROKERS AND CARRIERS

Moving companies: captives not chained to their domiciles in competitive industry.(On the Web)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Competition among captive domiciles is not news, though it seems like the concept of redomestication is gaining traction among risk managers and captive owners, as is the concern that domiciles could be making it too...

Captive executives would welcome Douglas victory; re-election of governor seen as a nod to stability and continuity.(On the Web)
September 15, 2007... A victory by Republican Gov. James Douglas in next year's election in Vermont would be seen as a welcome sign of political continuity and stability for the captive insurance industry, the state's captive insurance leaders said. "A known...

Quadruplets: Risk & Insurance[R] wins four awards in the annual ASBPE competition.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 15, 2007... The American Society of Business Publication Editors honored Risk & Insurance[R] four times during its 29th Annual Azbee Awards of Excellence competition. The work of Roger Crombie earned national recognition. His "Roger on Risk" column is...

Lose it or misuse it: obesity increases risk of traumatic workplace injuries, researchers say.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 15, 2007... Having a body mass index in the overweight or obese range increases the risk of traumatic workplace injury, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy. ...

Exposed to innovation: new technology could expose workers' comp fraud.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 15, 2007... Here's an innovation that could help resolve disputes between insurers and workers about whether exposure to a particular toxic chemical actually caused a worker to suffer a disabling disease or injury. It's kind of a genetic fingerprint test,...

Worth repeating.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
September 15, 2007... "He's here to help us, right? Or at least do us no harm," Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont introducing Congressman Peter Welch at the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association "We tried...

Not spectacular, but solid: brokers' financial performance affected by low rates, lost contingents, continued game of employee "musical chairs.".(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
September 15, 2007... Financial results for the second quarter of 2007 were "solid" for some brokers and "not terrible" for others, according to an analyst. Brokers, particularly those handling larger accounts, faced a tough time with decreasing rates in almost...

Beecher Carlson.(BROKER MOVES)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Atlanta-based Beecher Carlson announced additions to its staff. DAVID FORSYTH, former senior managing director at Frank Crystal & Co., was appointed head of Northern California operations. GERALD LEVINE, who...

Guy Carpenter & Co.(BROKER MOVES)
September 15, 2007... Guy Carpenter & Co., the reinsurance arm of the Marsh & McLennan Cos., was appointed RUPERT BEDFORD head of brokering for the U.K. operations of GCFac, the firm's facultative reinsurance unit. Bedford previously was an executive director in the...

Intergo Insurance Brokers.(BROKER MOVES)
September 15, 2007... New York-based Integro Insurance Brokers opened a new office in Nashville, Tenn., to be led by managing principal GREG DANIELS and principal SHEILA BAUER. Daniels joins Integro after 24 years with Marsh, where he most recently was senior vice...

William Gallagher Associates.(BROKER MOVES)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Boston-based insurance brokerage William Gallagher Associates promoted EDWARD FLANAGAN to senior vice president. Edward Flanagan Flanagan, an eight-year veteran of the firm, now serves clients in WGA's technology...

Marsh Inc.(BROKER MOVES)
September 15, 2007... Marsh Inc. made three recent appointments. ROBERT PETRIE will now serve as head of global operations, JEFFREY SHARER has been appointed head of global operational risk management and SCOTT LAIKEN is the new heed of global strategic planning....

The 'IT' thing in comp.(WORKERS' COMP)
September 15, 2007... The single most successful spur to innovation in workers' compensation continues to be information technology. I want to celebrate how IT is packing energy today into the analysis of workers' comp benefits. Call it the victory of the think...

Model brains in Bermuda.(ROGER ON RISK)
September 15, 2007... Over the years, two comments have continued to delight me about the insurance industry. The first is a definition of insurance that uses an automobile as an analogy for insurance and reinsurance companies. The chief executive officer is...

Mutually exclusive terms.(BROKERAGE)
September 15, 2007... Comedian George Carlin still performs a hilarious routine on "mutually exclusive terms." The most famous, I guess, is "military intelligence." Having served in military intelligence myself, I took this personally, though amusedly. Carlin's act...

Time for new, innovative bets.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
September 15, 2007... In 1991, the claims department of St. Paul Insurance was riding a wave of innovation. It had just installed computer terminals in the offices of all claims adjusters. The squat, cathode-ray tube monitors would look archaic next to the flat...

How about one-day trials?(THE LAW)
September 15, 2007... Some daring litigants and counsel are utilizing a strategy that's valuable in settling eases before they get overly expensive. Originating in the '80s and used by innovative judges to counter court congestion and eases languishing for years...

Shackled souls: it's hard to innovate when your hands are tied by rules, compromise and the difficulty of accurately setting aside reserves for future losses.(Cover story)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * It's not easy to innovate when insurers can only look at the past when figuring out how much to set aside in reserve for future losses. * A deal is closed only when three sides, the buyer, the...

Forces of innovation: two forces, transformationalism and incrementalism, offer insight into different approaches on how best to move the insurance industry forward.(INNOVATION)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * Far-reaching transformational changes are taking place day and night in the insurance industry. * Very often, carriers develop new products using an incremental strategy, but few experts say this...

Progressing from the ways and days of the UNIVAC: before groaning about how slow the insurance industry is when it comes to technological adoption, think of how far it's come.(INNOVATION)
September 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * Insurance carriers were among the first companies to adopt mainframe computers, buying the UNIVAC 1 in the early 1950s. * Early on, IBM made inroads with carriers seeking stable and secure...