Academic

Abramovsky on Influence in Insurance Fraud Prosecutions

By Lawrence Solum

Aviva Abramovsky (Syracuse University College of Law) has posted An Unholy Alliance: Perceptions Of Influence in Insurance Fraud Prosecutions and the Need For Real Safeguards (Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 98, No. 2, 2008) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This Article examines the working relationship between the insurance industry and prosecutors in the insurance fraud prosecution context. Both informal and legislatively mandated relationships are examined and funding schemes reviewed. The Article argues that specialized funding of investigators and prosecutors by industry assessment has led to perceptions of industry influence on the impartiality of the prosecutor. The Article then reviews the capacity of perceived influence to chill tort plaintiff lawyer activity. The Article concludes that the potential for conflict exists and is sufficient to warrant due process consideration. Additionally, the Article offers suggestions for potential prophylactic procedural safeguards in the course of prosecuting lawyers for their representative actions in the insurance fraud context.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on July 22, 2008 (boomark / email).