Written by Shane Dilworth | Published by Business Insurance | Sep 01, 2024
2024 Innovation Awards: Navel Software
Working from the premise that everyone pays for so-called nuclear verdicts because insurers pass the costs on to policyholders, Schaefer City Technologies LLC embarked on a project to help companies better manage the risk of sustaining a significant jury award.
The ability to identify claims that could result in such verdicts — defined as those that exceed $10 million — before they happen provides claims professionals, insurance executives and risk managers with “a window into the risk level” of a company’s portfolio of claims, said Denise Tyson, CEO of the San Diego-based company.
“NaVel is a second set of eyes, a consistent tool that equips claims professionals with vital information to conduct proactive, well-informed discussions on the best course of action on a claim file,” she said.
The NaVel software can identify 75% of potential large verdicts, she said.
The onslaught of nuclear verdicts, a term trademarked by Ms. Tyson’s brother, insurance defense attorney Robert Tyson of the San Diego-based firm Tyson & Mendes LLP, is driving rising premiums and property and casualty rates, she said.
The software, introduced in March 2023, examines up to 75 of a claim’s attributes, such as jurisdiction, plaintiffs attorney and damages sought, to assess its likelihood of resulting in a large verdict on a scale of one to 10.
The concept for NaVel, which stands for Nuclear Verdict Exposure Likelihood, emerged after the February 2020 publication of Mr. Tyson’s book “Nuclear Verdicts: Defending Justice for All,” she said.
After amassing verdict and settlement data from third parties, Ms. Tyson contacted the heads of business schools at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Villanova University, where she received her MBA and undergraduate degrees, respectively, for help. Mr. Tyson then asked his sister if a large verdict could be predicted.
“If we get the data and the right tools to analyze the data, I absolutely think we can figure it out,” she responded.
Professors and students from Villanova’s business school developed algorithms that were later refined by Nathan Cotes, Schaefer City’s chief data scientist and an assistant professor at Villanova, and SK Tirumala, the company’s chief technology officer.
“We currently have one general model, but as we meet new customers, we are building more specific models for their data, which is not only teaching our AI how to respond better but also increasing NaVel’s ability to identify even more potential nuclear verdicts,” Ms. Tyson said.
Media Contacts:
Laura Desjean, Chief Marketing Officer
laura@schaefercitytechnologies.com, 858-900-3005
Click Here to view original published article