Re: Insurance....yes or no

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Dear Mr. Know-It-All

On 9/23/05, matt wrote:
> On 9/22/05, Guess Who wrote:
>>
>> Dear Mr. Know-It-All

Apparently, you know what arbitration is? O.k., having an
abritration clause in your contract is something you are now
doing, right? And you still have insurance? If not, then you
are a self-insurer, right? If so, BIG MISTAKE - even if you have
a shit-load-of--money. Why on earth would any business person in
their right mind even consider being a self-insurer, whenever
there is insurance.

Get insurance - and have an abritration clause in your contract,
which should cut cost, because there is no high cost of
litigation.
>>
> "> Why are you posting this information if you have it
>> ALL-Figured-Out? If you think you know the system that
> well,
>> then good for you! Think your nuts? No, but you might be
>> crying one day because you have lot it all."
>
> Here is my reply and why I think insurance my be a waste of
> money:
>
> AP Wire:
>
> MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin judge has criticized a Dallas
> company that is a leading arbitrator nationwide in disputes
> over home construction projects, saying the company cannot be
> considered a fair judge.
>
> Dane County Circuit Court Judge Michael Nowakowski last week
> laid out a trove of information that he said calls into
> question the impartiality of Construction Arbitration
> Services, a Dallas company often used to resolve disputes over
> contracts and buildings.
>
> Hoping to avoid expensive litigation, building companies and
> contractors often add provisions in contracts that disputes
> will be handled by a third-party arbitrator such as
> Construction Arbitration Services.
>
> Consumer advocates say the system is stacked against consumers
> who sign away their rights to sue and instead get unfavorable
> rulings from biased arbitrators whose awards cannot be
> appealed.
>
> In a ruling Friday, Nowakowski disqualified Construction
> Arbitration Services from arbitrating a hearing set for Monday
> between a Wisconsin building company and landscaper.
>
> He ruled that the company gave favorable rulings to
> construction companies, not consumers, in order to get repeat
> work; the company did not disclose that its co-owner and
> general counsel had been disbarred for lying and stealing; and
> that it had misrepresented the credentials of an arbitrator.
>
> Because of those factors, the arbitration would be tainted, he
> said.
>
> Craig Olson, senior vice president of arbitration with
> Construction Arbitration Services, which handles about 60 home
> arbitrations per month across the country, said the company is
> not biased. He said company officials do not tell their
> arbitrators how to rule and insist they follow ethical
> guidelines.
>
> Arbitration is a quicker way to settle disputes than going to
> courts, Olson said.
>
> Consumer groups have been increasingly critical of the
> Construction Arbitration Services and its ties to construction
> companies. They hailed the ruling from Nowakowski, saying he
> is one of the first judges in the nation to raise questions
> about the company's perceived bias.
>
> "It's good news," said Samantha Coulombe of Public Citizen, a
> consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. "As CAS is a prime
> example, it's rife with impartiality and there's a lot of
> danger for it being a biased system that isn't going to lead
> to fair adjudications of disputes."
>
> Nowakowski also said the company's impartiality could be
> questioned by a reasonable person because:
>
> _ It had misrepresented the credentials of Norman Hintz, of
> Franklin, Wis., who was going to be the arbitrator in Monday's
> hearing. The judge said Hintz, a former city alderman, did not
> have a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee nor
> was he licensed as a state building inspector as the company
> claimed.
>
> Hintz, 71, on Wednesday defended his credentials, saying he
> earned a two-year certificate, not a degree, from the school
> and that he had a long career as a municipal building
> inspector before retiring.
>
> "I'm using my expertise in a fashion that's going to unclog
> the courts," he said. "Arbitration is a lower cost and faster
> method of resolving differences."
>
> _ The company's co-owner and general counsel, Marshall
> Lippman, was disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., in
> 1997 for stealing client funds, neglecting clients, lying
> under oath, and obstructing an investigation.
>
> Lippman was admonished by a judge in Oregon last year for
> claiming he was still licensed to practice law. State
> investigators in New Jersey also said he had lied about being
> a dean of the New York University Law School and serving on a
> national board of arbitrators.
>
> Nowakowski called Lippman "a person whose ethical obligations
> apparently were not very important to him and his devotion to
> the interests of furthering his business allowed him to lie to
> a court."
>
> Lippman did not return a phone message left at the company.
> Olson said Lippman has divested his ownership in the company
> and has not been general counsel for one year.END
>
> Hey know it all.....forgive me for having a brain and looking
> up some facts. Construction Arbitration Services was the arb.
> service my insurance company used. Looks like my 3,000 dollar
> policy may not have been much good anyway. Do a google search
> on CAS....there is a lot more like the above info.
>
> What do you have to say now.....know .....it.....all?????????
>