Almost without exception, the chief claim officers and heads of litigation with whom we discuss industry trends tell us that their settlement values are increasing.  And while nuclear verdicts, social inflation, and third-party litigation funding are often mentioned in the context of the increasing pressures they face, we have concluded that the more relevant battlefield is closer to home and frankly more under our control.

That battlefield, where we believe the wins and losses really happen, is in how the litigated claim is negotiated. It is in how the narrative is framed, how case valuation is anchored, and in how one side persuades the other to accept their story, their valuation, and the risks of not reaching a negotiated settlement.

The plaintiff bar has evolved in how they frame, anchor, and persuade – mostly due to new advances in AI that enable them to do these three things inexpensively, quickly, and most importantly, effectively. Although EvenUp Law is most cited as the enabler of these advances in the plaintiff bar (EvenUp claims they increase the value of a settlement by 30%), they are in fact now just one of many such tools being adopted by personal injury attorneys.

It is in this context that we conducted this June 2025 Industry Snapshot – with a focus on understanding the philosophies and practices of insurance defense teams and their leadership. We wanted to answer several core questions:

1.      STAFFING -- Who is doing the negotiation? Who conveys the numbers and presents compelling persuasive reasons why those numbers should be accepted?

2.      SKILLS – What levels of formal negotiation training are in place? Are these important?

3.      ANCHORING -- To what degree are we framing and anchoring cases early? Are we making first offers?

4.      PERSUSION and ADVOCACY -- How are we conveying our negotiation position? Is our current practice less detailed than how the plaintiff bar is doing it? Is there executive support for evidence-based, highly detailed, written documents that convey our position?

56 senior claim officers and heads of litigation participated in this Industry Snapshot. More than 50 claim organizations are represented.

The results of the survey can be found here.