Another Consequence of the Paradigm Shift
Two great Scott Adams quotes occur to me this morning. Mr. Adams writes the cartoon strip Dilbert, and his thoughts are often poignant, sometimes painfully so. First, from December 11, 1999, the “boss” says “I think the internet might catch on. I rushed over here so I could be the first to say it’s a new paradigm.” Earlier, in 1995, Mr. Adams coined the phrase “a paradigm shifting without a clutch.”
Well, if none of you have beat me to it, let me rush out here to be the first to say that electronic service at the OJCC is a "new paradigm." That said, I am sure that this whole internet thing, which seems like the be all and end all, is really just another stepping stone. We will look back on the internet one day and reminisce about it the way we reminisce today about black and white televisions. That is not because it is not a great tool, it is because the next thing will make it obsolete. Do you think our ancestors ever thought anything would be invented that was more cool and useful than the telegraph?
All kidding aside though, our e-service process is a new paradigm. That is not to say we are not grinding a few gears as we make that shift. However, there is not clutch which we can press and disengage the litigation process while we make that change. We are therefore working on resolving the problems that we, and you, encounter while we are also working on the regular day-to-day process of managing the litigation that is before us.
We are hearing from some users of our system, primarily carriers and third party administrators (TPA), who are frustrated that they are receiving case mail on claims that are not theirs. For more on this, see Don’t Call Us, March 20, 2013. The reason that these companies are receiving that email is because someone has sent that email. This is not a computer glitch, the computer is doing precisely what it was programmed to do, follow instructions. So let’s look at one instance in which the instructions it is following need to be fixed by the parties to a case.
Petitions often get filed against the wrong carrier or TPA. Human beings make errors, that is just the way it is. When that happens, the OJCC database will then include that erroneous carrier or TPA name. That data is in the database. Therefore, from that moment forward, our new e-service paradigm will serve documents on that erroneous carrier or TPA.
In the past, when a carrier or TPA (“XYZ Insurance”) received an erroneous PFB, they would contact the claimant or attorney, who would dismiss the petition (and refile against the correct party). Thereafter, that claimant or attorney would know that “XYZ Insurance” was not the proper carrier in that case and they would send their future U.S. Mail to the correct carrier. Thus, despite the fact that the OJCC had “XYZ Insurance” in our database from that erroneous PFB, the mail to “XYZ Insurance” on the claim would cease after the dismissal because the attorney would stop manually mailing to that carrier.
As we have shifted into the electronic paradigm for service, the fact that the database still contains “XYZ Insurance” becomes more important. In the new paradigm, when that petition against “XYZ Insurance” is dismissed, someone also needs to tell us that “XYZ Insurance” needs to be removed from the case in the OJCC database. If no one tells us, then that carrier will remain in the database and will continue to receive email from the OJCC and perhaps the parties in that case.
The point is, as with so many thing in life, if you want something (your name off of the case, your company off the service list the case) you have to say something. Of course the best practice would be for the claimant or claimant’s attorney to say something when the dismissal is filed. Instead of just “claimant dismisses the mm.dd.yyyy petition,” how about “claimant dismisses the mm.dd.yyyy petition, and stipulates to the removal of XYZ Insurance from this claim.” This would put the OJCC staff on notice that “XYZ Insurance” needs to be removed.
However, that will not always happen. If you work for a carrier or TPA and you receive mail you do not believe is appropriate, please contact us at:
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