Early last year I did something that I thought I would never do: attend an insurance conference. As a plaintiff lawyer. I was not there to spy or anything like that. Instead, my co-founder/wife and I spent the conference chasing down insurance executives, trying to show  them that they were wasting billions per year on defense costs, and that by using our software, StreamSettle, they can avoid this unnecessary spending by settling disputed claims much earlier in the process, but for the amount that they would ultimately pay anyways (more on this at the end).

When approaching the carriers, I was surprised to learn that most of them have people, or even entire departments, dedicated only to finding innovative solutions. On the other hand, as plaintiff lawyers, we do not need innovation to win.  We don’t need it to survive.  But innovative solutions can make things a lot easier, increase profitability, decrease burnout, and make our people a lot happier. So with that in mind, this article will tell you how to quickly step up your innovation game so that your firm can do just that.

Which innovation category is best for your firm?

From an evolutionary standpoint, we need traditional thinkers for stability. But to grow as a society, we also need innovators. They are willing to take substantial risks in pursuit of finding a better way. And while this mindset may lead to failure at times, innovators’ successes typically far outweigh their losses.

If everyone was purely a traditional thinker, society would have evolved at a much slower rate. And if everyone was an innovator, we may not have survived as a species. So fortunately, we have both. In fact, people can be broken down into five different groups based on the rates at which they adopt new technology:[1]

1. Innovators (2.5%) - First to adopt an innovation. Always looking for the next best thing and for new ways to solve problems.
2. Early Adopters (13.5%) – Second fastest to adopt an innovation, but typically among the first in their peer group to do so.
3. Early Majority (34%) – Adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time, usually significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters.
4. Late Majority (34%) – Approach innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation.
5. Laggards (16%) – Last to adopt an innovation. Uncomfortable with change and progress.

Like individuals, law firms also adopt innovative solutions at different rates. Plaintiff firms that embrace being at the forefront of innovation usually place a heavy emphasis on continuing education and professional involvement. They aim to interact with new technology while it is still in development so that their preferences can be incorporated into the design. They develop and/or curate new systems and processes, and often share their knowledge with their peers. For their time and risk-taking, they are naturally rewarded with higher financial lucidity and opinion leadership when compared to less innovative firms.

See Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed., The Free Press, 1962 (pp. 282-83); "5 Customer Segments & Technology Adoption."

Want to upgrade your firm’s category? Here’s how:

Build an Innovation Committee 

Enhancing and maintaining your innovation culture requires an innovative team:

• Size: 2-5 people, ideally representing the first three Rogers' categories (Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority).
• Composition: Include staff (non-lawyers) for a well-rounded perspective.
• Goals: Align the committee's composition with your firm's desired innovation level (e.g., if you want to be an Early Adopter firm, form committee with a heavier concentration of Early Adopters).

For small firms and solos who may not have sufficient personnel to form a committee, try collaborating with other small firms by inviting them to form a joint innovation committee.

The Committee's Role

• Identify Pain Points: Regularly collect feedback from employees to identify areas for improvement.
• Research Solutions: Explore potential solutions for identified pain points.
• Report & Recommend: Regularly report findings and recommendations to partners. The committee members should calendar their meeting as a “recurring event” for the designated meeting time. Without regularly scheduled innovation committee meetings, it will be very difficult for a firm to maintain an upgraded innovation category.

Implementation: Try if before you buy it!

Rarely should a firm adopt a solution without testing it first, preferably without a cost. If a company will not let you try before you buy, that may be a red flag. Prioritize companies who offer full version trials or contingent pricing (only pay after receiving the value that the company claims they can provide).

If something does not work as you had hoped, let the sales rep know what you would need the product to do for you to purchase it. If they cannot accommodate, it is unlikely that you will be impressed with their support as a paying customer.

Follow Up

The participants in the pilot should regularly report their experience with the potential solution to the innovation committee and partners so it can be determined whether the potential solution is worth implementing firmwide. If after a successful pilot you decide to purchase the solution, the committee should schedule periodic reminders to follow-up with the end users at your firm to ensure that the solution is still performing as intended.

Talk to an Innovator

There can be many solutions offered for a single pain point, so it may be a daunting task for an employee to find the ideal fit for your firm. You can make this process easier by hiring someone to help. Some professionals, like me, offer these services at little to no cost by having a customer referral relationship with the various solution vendors. Others may charge you a consulting fee. Regardless, look for someone who has extensive industry experience. Acting on the recommendations of someone with little understanding of what it is like to manage a plaintiff firm or litigate a case may be less than helpful.

Conclusion

Must a plaintiff firm innovate to survive? I do not believe so. But I do believe that the most consistently successful plaintiff firms owe a large part of their success to having a strong innovation culture.

Bonus: Get started with StreamSettle

Ready to start innovating? Allow me to introduce you to my favorite company, StreamSettle (please excuse my bias). As mentioned previously, we found a way to show insurers that it is financially advantageous to them to pay you now what they are ultimately going to pay you anyways. Resolving disputed claims in this manner requires a paradigm shift because most of us are conditioned to believe that the longer we litigate a case, the more the carrier will pay. But that model greatly benefits defense firms and litigation experts who profit from prolonged litigation while insurers, our clients, and we ultimately incur the risks and costs associated with unnecessarily prolonged litigation. 

To get cases resolved, StreamSettle doesn’t use traditional demands and offers. Instead, we blindly test the parties’ True Settlement Thresholds (“TST’s”) for overlap. The TST’s are the absolute highest amount that the insurer would ever be willing to pay to settle the claim, and the absolute lowest amount that a plaintiff lawyer could accept to settle the claim. StreamSettle uses a patent pending, triple-blind comparison method to detect whether the parties’ TST’s overlap, without either side having to show their cards. If the adjuster’s TST is at least as much as the lawyer’s TST, the parties have a binding, irrevocable settlement at the midpoint of the overlapping values. If the TST’s do not overlap, the submitted values remain concealed. This gives parties the ability to test, at any time, whether their hidden settlement positions overlap without showing each other their cards. And because StreamSettle only charges a fee if a settlement is reached on our platform, the process is risk-free to both sides. To learn more and get started, please visit us at https://streamsettle.com or shoot me an email at jjones@streamsettle.com. I would love to hear from you.

Joe Jones is a former USMC Judge Advocate and board-certified personal injury trial lawyer with nearly a decade’s experience litigating disputed insurance claims on behalf of plaintiffs.