In the movie Network, television broadcasterHoward Beale unites the nation when he exclaims on air, “I'm as madas hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!” This quote wouldfind favor with Richard Parrillo, Sr., founder and CEO of UnitedAutomobile Insurance Company, who recently launched a publicrelations campaign to expose what he says are plaintiffs' lawyerswho are exploiting Florida's legal system in regard to personalinjury protection (PIP) benefits. Claims' Eric Gilkeyspoke with Parrillo about the problems he sees with PIP inFlorida.

Describe a typical PIP scenario you feel is beingexploited in Florida. What kind of tactics are plaintiffs' lawyersemploying?

A typical PIP scenario used to consist of a person who wasinvolved in an accident being approached by a “runner,” who hadobtained the victim's information through illegally obtained policereports or from persons working in hospitals who were paid to giveout patient information.

The runner would sign up the accident victim for treatment at aparticular clinic, or would arrange a visit with a particularattorney (who would then typically refer the victim to a clinic).This was done either through direct payoffs or through promises ofpayoffs. The accident victim then received $12,000 to $15,000 worthof unnecessary medical treatment, no matter what his injuries were(if any at all), which was then billed to the insurance carrier.The plaintiff lawyer would then use this bogus treatment to build abodily injury case against the at-fault driver, or to file the PIPsuit against the insurance carrier.

In recent years, the runners have been replaced with moreblatant solicitation efforts. Now, hotlines and advertisements suchas 800-NEED HELP or 800-411-PAIN draw the accident victim in withpromises of automatic payments of “$10,000 in benefits and lostwages.” These hotlines are owned and run by accident clinics andattorneys who to lure victims into this typical PIP scenario. Oncea person calls into the hotline, he is automatically hooked up withan accident clinic and attorney and begins to receive the same$12,000 to $15,000 worth of unnecessary medical treatment.

Unfortunately, the entire PIP system is being exploited inFlorida.

You recently cited a case in which a plaintiff'sattorney filed a lawsuit for $2.59. What are the incentives fordoing this?

That's easy: attorneys' fees. Under existing law, a judgmentagainst an insurance company, no matter how small the amount,results in an award of attorneys' fees to the lawyer.

A typical plaintiff PIP attorney seeks $350 to $450 an hour andwill bill in excess of 100 hours to collect the $2.59. They willthen ask the court to award them $35,000 to $45,000 in fees forobtaining the $2.59 judgment. Plaintiff PIP attorneys have told usdirectly that they share the fees with the clinics. That's PIP.

Is this phenomenon an isolated incident?

No, this phenomenon is not an isolated incident. PIP attorneysand clinics have been exploiting the system for as long as PIP hasbeen in place. We have been told that the group of plaintiff PIPattorneys that practice in Miami-Dade County call themselves “TheDirty 30.” If that doesn't tell you how commonplace it is, I don'tknow what does.

How can the courts — and the Florida legislature — helplimit this kind of abuse?

Unfortunately, the provisions and measures enacted by theFlorida legislature to control PIP fraud and abuse are not enforcedby the courts. Maybe it is that the courts do not understand theextent of the fraud and abuse and how much it costs Floridacitizens in the form of increased insurance premiums and taxes.Maybe the courts do not understand how much they are hurtingFlorida citizens by allowing this type of litigation and resultingattorneys' fees.

PIP cases are litigated almost exclusively in county courts,where the court's jurisdiction does not exceed $15,000. It isastounding that courts with this jurisdictional limit so freelyaward attorneys' fees well in excess of this amount. We have seenfee awards in PIP cases in excess of $100,000 when the benefitsrecovered were only a couple thousand of dollars. The county courtsreward plaintiffs' attorneys for churning fees and performingunnecessary work to prosecute their cases. This phenomenon ofinexplicable attorney-fee awards has fueled the fraud and abusethat permeates the PIP system.

Do you see any solutions on the horizon?

PIP fraud and abuse is so widespread in Florida, it's hard tosay that the problem can ever be solved. It can certainly becontrolled by stricter enforcement by the courts of the statutoryprovisions that the legislature enacted, and by the legislatureclosing the loopholes that exist in the current PIP laws. Ofcourse, attorney-fee reform will have to occur for there ever to behope of solving this problem.