INSURERS ALLEGE PLAINTIFF CLAIM-MINING IN ABUSE CASE

Operating units of Chubb and Hartford Financial Services have alleged in court filings that plaintiffs attorneys and for-profit claims generators in the ongoing sex-abuse litigation against the Boy Scouts of America solicited tens of thousands of claims against the organisation with little or no vetting after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. Some 95,000 abuse claims against the Boy Scouts were filed before a November deadline. The insurers allege that thousands of those claims are suspect, as many were signed by attorneys “with no evidence to show that counsel has knowledge of facts to support the claim.” The insurers have asked a bankruptcy judge to examine 15 plaintiffs’ attorneys that filed large volumes of claims.