Law Firm Sued Over Alleged Coordinated Efforts with Investigative Journalism

Attorneys at Clarkson Law Firm have filed multiple class-action lawsuits against major health insurers in recent years, often relying heavily on investigative articles published by reputable news outlets like ProPublica and STAT News.

The lawsuits target companies such as UnitedHealth Group, Cigna, Humana, and Facebook's owner Meta. They claim that the insurers use AI algorithms to deny patients care and cheat Medicare patients.

However, legal experts have raised questions about Clarkson's methods, suggesting that they may be relying too heavily on news articles rather than conducting their own investigations.

Arthur Landry, a veteran insurance defense attorney in Louisiana, stated that 'relying solely on an article in a newspaper, journal or other publication would not satisfy the class action requirement.'

Dane Ciolino, an ethics expert at Loyola University of New Orleans Law School, noted that there is no inherent objection to lawyers monitoring investigations and bringing meritorious claims.

However, if evidence showed that lawyers and journalists were jointly selecting subjects or coordinating publication and filing dates, it would be a materially different situation.