White v. Berryman

It is always good sport to stick it to an insurance company, but these days it is getting harder and harder to distinguish *334the stickor from the stickee. This case would have settled for less than $100,000,1 but now the plaintiff (and her lawyers) will receive a windfall of over $400,000 because of what is best described as colórate screw-up. The defendant in this case is the State of West Virginia, which is insured by CNA, a large insurer based in Chicago.

The way that stickors and stickees merge seamlessly of late is that insurance companies base their premiums on loss experience. Today’s…