Allstate Ins. Co. v. Plambeck, No. 14-10574 (5th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAllstate filed suit against telemarketing companies, chiropractic clinics, and affiliated law offices spanning several states, contending that they had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1962, by defrauding insurance companies such as Allstate. Defendants would convince persons who had been in vehicle accidents but were not at fault to receive unnecessary chiropractic services. Defendants would then file third-party claims against the at-fault party's insurer. A jury returned a verdict for Allstate, including a sizable award and attorney's fees. Both parties appealed. The court concluded that the jury could reasonably infer that the scheme was fraudulent and that using the mail or wire services was inevitable. Consequently, it makes no difference that Defendants Friedman, Toca, and Plambeck did not take the x-rays at issue. The court also concluded that Allstate presented sufficient evidence to satisfy the unchallenged jury instruction regarding proximate cause; given the court's highly deferential standard of review and the evidence presented to show the inappropriateness and unreasonableness of the entire course of treatments prescribed by the chiropractors, this case does not suffer from the same flaws as did Receivable Finance, where the court concluded that Allstate's damages were too speculative; and the court rejected defendants' claims that the statute of limitations bars certain of Allstate's claims and that the district court erred in admitting Allstate's experts. The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney's fees and prejudgment interest. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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