RICO claim against State Farm, settled for $250 million.
Mark Hale, Laurie Loger and Todd Shadle, all former State Farm insureds, were court-appointed class representatives in Avery v. State Farm, which resulted in a $1.181 billion jury verdict in 1999 in Illinois state court. The issue was State Farm’s designation of aftermarket crash parts for its insured’s vehicle repairs rather than parts made by the original manufacturer, as required by the insurance policy.
In 2005, the verdict was reversed by the Illinois Supreme Court, with State Farm-sponsored candidate Justice Karmeier casting the deciding vote to break the tie. At that time, State Farm claimed to have contributed only $300,000 to the Karmeier campaign. Karmeier refused to recuse himself despite widespread rumors that State Farm had contributed millions. For context, both Supreme Court candidates spent approximately $5 million each on their respective campaigns.
In 2009, the Caperton v. Massey Coal decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court, involving a similar set of facts in the West Virginia Supreme Court election. Plaintiffs then asked the Illinois Supreme Court to recall the mandate and revisit the Karmeier recusal issue. After being rebuffed again, plaintiffs — with evidence developed by two retired FBI agents — filed a lawsuit alleging RICO violations in connection with State Farm’s filings in both the Illinois courts and the United States Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs sought recovery of $1.2 billion plus legal interest accrued since 1999. A nine-person jury was selected on August 29, 2018, with opening statements scheduled for September 4, 2018. The case settled that same day and was preliminarily approved by Judge Herndon on September 4, 2018. The settlement class consists of the original Avery class members.
Case: Mark Hale, et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, et al., No. 3:12-cv-00600-DRH-SCW, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Gordon Ball, Law Office of Gordon Ball, Knoxville, TN; Don Barrett, Barrett Law Group PA, Lexington, MS; Patrick W. Pendley and Nicholas R. Rockforte, Pendley, Baudin & Coffin, Plaquemine, LA; Robert Clifford and George S. Bellas, Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, IL; Robert J. Nelson and Elizabeth Cabraser, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, San Francisco, CA; Brent W. Landau, Hausfeld LLC, Philadelphia, PA; Steven P. Blonder, Much Shelist PC, Chicago, IL; Richard Taylor and Steven Martino, Taylor Martino PC, Mobile, AL; Thomas Thrash, Thrash Law Firm PA, Little Rock, AR.
Plaintiffs’ Experts: T.A. Myers & Co. and [see note below], Forensic Accountants; Richard Means, Oak Park, Illinois, Campaign & Election Law.