Clash of the Titans

Big legal battle brewing between HMO attorney Harley Tropin and his cast of thousands, on the one hand, and Paul Geller, on the other, over an objection Paul filed in the pending Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO settlement. Paul is objecting to the settlement wiping out his 2005 state court case, which deals with a narrow Florida statute that prescribes how Florida HMOs must pay for non-participating Florida emergency service providers.

Admittedly, I am only getting one side of this story, having only read Paul's 38-page objection. It does not appear from the docket that Harley's team has filed a response yet.

Still, Paul sets out an intriguing, if not compelling case. From his pleadings, he argues that the BCBS settlement wipes out his suit, which is against a entity that is not an actual defendant in Harley's case, and which deals with a narrow Florida statute that was never the subject of Harley's litigation. Further, Paul complains that no remedy is provided to the class for violations of that Florida statute, and no injunctive remedy included to stop the offending conduct from continuing in the future. Still, I doubt Harley simply decided to steamroll over Paul's claim -- there has got to be something more to this.

Judge Moreno has set a case management conference for November 14, where presumably Paul's objection, among others, will be heard.

BCBS's local attorney, Steve Siff, will be crowned a genius if he is able to kill two birds with one stone, as Paul alleges. But query, why not bring Paul in to the deal, modify the settlement to properly account for this claim, and get this wrapped up for all concerned?

Why give Judge Moreno all this tsurris before Thanksgiving?