Date: 10-08-1999

Case Style: Snider, et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

Case Number: 97 L 114

Judge: John Speroni

Court: Circuit Court, Williamson County, Illinois

Plaintiff's Attorney: Michael B. Hyman of Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein, Chicago, Illinois; Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, L.L.P.; Don Barrett of the Barrett Law Offices of Lexington, Mississippi,; Tom Thrash of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Patricia Littleton of Marion, Illinois;

Defendant's Attorney: Walter C. Greenough of Schiff Hardin & Waite, Chicago, Illinois and Barney Schultz, city of practice unknown.

Description: Class Action Breach of Contract and Consumer Fraud Claims. Plaintiffs claimed that State Farm Mutural Insurance Company breach its contracts with as many as 4.7 of its policy holders by repairing cars with crash parts of lesser quality than those originally used by the auto manufacturer. The plaintiffs took the position that State Farm had contractual obligations spelled out in its insurance policies to repair vehicles to "their pre-loss condition" using "parts of like kind and quality." Plaintiffs claimed that the parts being used at State Farm's direction are inferior and simply not of like kind and quality. They didn't measure up to the safety standards set by the automakers, and they literally could endanger the lives of vehicle occupants. Plaintiffs sought more than $1.5 billion in damages.

State Farm denied wrongdoing.

In a separate finding by the court, Judge Speroni found that State Farm had, in fact, committed consumer fraud through its practice of uniformly specifying cheaper non-original equipment manufacturer (non-eom) crash parts in settlement of insurance claims filed by its policyholders.

Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $456 million in compensatory damages and $600 million in punitive damages.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unknown

Defendant's Experts: Unknown

Comments: None