Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Leading Auto Insurers

3 November 1999

    SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 --  The following was released today by
Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP:

    Several law firms announced today the filing today of a class action
lawsuit that alleges a widespread and systematic conspiracy by a number of
auto insurers to use cheaper, inferior non-original equipment manufacturer
(non-OEM) crash parts in settlement of their policyholders' claims.
    The complaint was filed by Shannon Hobbs, a law enforcement officer who
resides in Wood River, Illinois.  After an accident in late 1998, Mr. Hobbs
was required by Defendant State Farm to have imitation bumper parts installed
on his 1993 Ford F150 pickup truck.  Imitation bumpers, like the part
installed on Mr. Hobbs' truck, were the subject of a February 1999 Consumer
Reports cover story which found that imitation bumpers crumbled under even
very low speed impacts.  The suit, filed in Illinois, alleges that the parts
used to repair Mr. Hobbs' truck were inferior to OEM parts and may pose a
safety threat.  The lawsuit follows upon the $1.2 billion verdict obtained
against State Farm by the same team of attorneys.
    The suit alleges that seven major auto insurers:  State Farm, CNA,
Allstate, Safeco, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and GEICO, jointly promoted non-OEM
crash parts as being of like kind and quality as OEM parts, while knowing that
non-OEM crash parts were of lesser quality.  The suit alleges that this
widespread practice resulted in the use of ill-fitting parts that were
structurally unsound, lacking in durability and potentially unsafe.
    The complaint alleges violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act,
breach of contract, and conspiracy and seeks compensation and punitive damages
as well as declaratory relief.  Among the attorneys involved in the lawsuit
are the law firms of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, with offices in
San Francisco and New York, the Barrett Law Offices of Lexington, Mississippi,
Much Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament, and Rubenstein in Chicago, Hopkins,
Goldenberg, P.C. of Granite City, Illinois, Tom Thrash of Little Rock,
Arkansas, The Law Offices of Patricia Littleton of  Marion, Illinois, and
Jackson, Taylor, Martino of Mobile Alabama.