On March 6, 2009, NP gained preliminary approval in its landmark class action case against Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), the manufacturer of the bodily injury adjusting software Colossus.
Colossus is a software program developed by CSC and marketed to insurance companies for use in the adjustment of bodily injury claims. Throughout the country, insurance companies used Colossus to secretly underpay bodily injury claims, and through efforts coordinated by CSC, prevent claimants from discovering both the use and function of the program. NP, along with co-counsel, took on the entire automobile insurance industry and CSC to ensure this practice was halted and that first-party claimants were compensated for the financial harm done to them through the secretive use of Colossus.
Through skilled and creative advocacy, NP reached an agreement with CSC whereby the company which manufactures the product, but does not write insurance, was required to make sweeping changes in the way the program is marketed and supported as well as making public disclosures about the program’s once-secret use and function. The settlement class, if approved, will consist of the previously approved class members of twenty-four insurance group claimants who filed first-party bodily injury claims with their respective insurer.
NP Partners Cary Patterson, Michael Angelovich, and associate Chad Ihrig led the litigation for NP.