David E Smith

Personal injury cases are battles about insurance coverage. A devastating tragedy has occurred, and someone needs to pay. In most cases, the payment will come from insurance. Before you can argue with an insurance company about how much money they should pay, an adjuster will first need to be persuaded that there’s a binding insurance policy that would require it.

It may be the offender’s insurance policy or, if they do not have enough insurance to cover the damages, then it’s the injured person's uninsured motorist coverage (UIM). At Spooner, when we need to find coverage, it's my job to read the policies and FIND it.

Insurance policies are notoriously long and monotonous. The language is arcane and mind-bendingly obtuse. Even experienced injury lawyers struggle to find meaning in meandering sentences that seem to spiral into dizzying infinity. That’s all true. And I absolutely LOVE it. It’s become second nature to me; I speak insurance like a native. I breeze through policies like they're my #ForYouPage on TikTok.

I spent the early part of my career interpreting these contract terms at four different insurance companies, so I know exactly what to look for and where to find it. I also know how to speak with adjusters to persuade them that coverage exists and how they can explain that to their supervisors. They can see that I’ve walked in their shoes and sincerely respect them―they are my people.

But the game has changed in recent years. Decades ago, I was trained to help FIND insurance for our policyholders―to do right by them. We felt good about our ability to use the tools we had available to us to make them whole and regain their respect, autonomy, and integrity. We felt that we were doing something meaningful.

Big Data was the beginning of the end, and AI has continued the destruction; eliminating the humanity out of the system. Computers don't feel good about helping people―it's just AI and algorithms, math and metrics. That’s a disservice to the people who have been loyally paying their policies to provide protection for themselves and anyone they inadvertently harmed.

At Spooner, that's why we changed sides. When we need to go to war in court to get a client the justice they deserve, we truly have the best trial team in Oregon, and the insurance industry knows it. But when an insurance company is denying that coverage even exists, now you're living in MY world, and I'm steeled for battle.