Reporting
Vendors
Information Flow
Cost Control
Litigation Management
Performance
In Summary

Litigation Management

As most experienced claimsmen will attest, the largest expense items you will incur annually will be for litigation management. If not watched and managed carefully, you will experience significant expense leakage in this area. Your chosen TPA needs to have extensive litigation management protocols for both the defense attorneys assigned as well as their inside claim staff. If a prospective TPA cannot readily show you that they've developed these protocols, and that they implement them among their staff, walk away from them as fast as you can.

Your TPA should be able to show you their approved defense attorney listing. This shouldn't be a top-secret document. You will then need to determine if their defense panel is in any way focused on your industry group or are they simply a panel of attorneys approved by the TPA to respond to their general clientele. Again, the vendors, if chosen carefully, will bring home the bacon for you. If chosen improperly, based on inappropriate hiring criteria, your bacon will be handed to you.

For success in this area, the TPA needs to demonstrate to you that they partner with defense counsel to develop litigation strategy, including a realistic anticipated cost of defense, and that they (TPA) do not allow counsel to simply run with the file until final settlement or other resolution. The defense vendor and the TPA need to provide you with:

• Periodic case assessments during the evolution of litigation (settlement opportunities when apparent).
• Utilization of industry sensitive mediators for alternative dispute resolution.
• Innovative and efficient options for file resolution at the earliest opportunity, before incurring significant defense costs.