Industry Snapshot: Variability in Risk Factor Use for Venue and Plaintiff Attorney Risk Scoring

Conducted by Suite 200 Solutions | May 2024

The litigation landscape is becoming increasingly data-driven, with both plaintiff and defense teams turning to analytics to assess venue and attorney risks. To better understand how legal professionals are using these tools, Suite 200 Solutionsconducted an informal survey in May 2024 with 37 litigation executives and defense counsel.

The results show significant variability in how different leaders view venue and plaintiff attorney risk factors — and confirm that flexibility will be critical as carriers and counsel adopt data-driven tools for case management.

Key Insights from the Snapshot

1. High Variability Across Risk Factors

Participants revealed wide differences in how much weight they assign to venue and attorney risk factors. Some considered these factors essential to decision-making, while others viewed them as secondary. This variability underscores the need for flexible analytics tools that allow each organization to prioritize data according to its own strategy.

2. Executives vs. Counsel Perspectives

Litigation executives and defense counsel often viewed the same data points differently. This suggests potential friction — but also an opportunity for collaboration, aligning case strategy around shared insights.

3. Data as a Competitive Edge

Despite differences in interpretation, participants broadly agreed that venue and attorney risk data has become a core input to litigation management. The ability to integrate these insights into case evaluation and negotiation strategies is emerging as a competitive differentiator.

Why It Matters

For insurance defense teams, understanding risk is everything. Venue tendencies, plaintiff attorney track records, and other granular factors can make or break litigation outcomes. This survey highlights how decision-makers are interpreting those factors — and where alignment (or misalignment) exists between executives and outside counsel.

Download the full Snapshot here