Over the past few months, Charles DeStefano, President of Staten Island Trial Lawyers Association (an Affiliate of NYSTLA)  has been advancing towards resolving 213 claims with the GEICO Insurance Company by asking the members of his Association to submit all GEICO claims in unison.  The claims are being submitted to GEICO through the company “Resolute Systems,” a national company that specializes in mediation and arbitration.

Mr. DeStefano created the idea of forming a “bloc” of lawyers who practice in Staten Island to show strength in numbers.  Most of the practitioners on the Island are between 1 and 10 attorney firms.  In order to compete with larger firms employed by insurance companies, it was thought best to aggregate the GEICO claims with the SITLA member firms. “Power in numbers” is the message.

The goal is to schedule a “SITLA / GEICO Week” in which multiple mediators and arbitrators would discuss and/or decide these claims.  Over the past 5 years, GEICO has been less inclined to resolve their claims,  despite the claims being meritorious. The “GEICO Plan” is designed to remove the claims gridlock that exists throughout the state.

If you are an attorney from other parts of the State of New York and wish more information, feel free to contact me via my website : www.charlesdestefanolaw.com