If I Do Say So Myself

That had to be the most salacious first paragraph ever in Insurance Journal‘s history.”

I smiled and couldn’t help letting a bit of pride well up when an insurance industry veteran and fellow courtroom gallery onlooker expressed his thougths on a recent story I wrote on InsuranceJournal.com about the court case he and I had been watching on and off for months.

The case involves a bankrupt insurance agency in Southern California, and turned into an accusation-fueled battle over a request for a temporary restraining order filed by the new owner of the firm against its old owners.

The case dragged on, and dragged out a few skeletons. It also brought to light several lesser known factoids about the agency, including that it seems to have been in the early stages of building an “adult entertainment program.”

The first paragraph the gentleman was speaking of, known in journalism circles as a “lead,” referenced a quote from Ronald Regan and an emergency motion from a sex toy business.

Also brought to light during the hearing was the industry’s awareness of Insurance Journal, which has been mentioned by lawyers several times during the legal battle, as well as in an application filed with the court that notes “A reporter from the Insurance Journal, the leading publication in the insurance industry, has been attending each and every day of the evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction.”

It’s nice to be noticed. But it’s also nice to see that the local community of insurance brokers and agents are so informed, and care about what goes on in their industry. You see similar evidence at the industry’s myriad conferences each year.

Early on in the trial one of the attorneys for the defendants implied that the judge should impose a gag order. Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Maureen Tighe in her wisdom called that suggestion extreme and merely advised everyone to watch what they say. Both parties took her advice and have said nothing outside of the courtroom — other than comments about the stories on the case, or to say they get Insurance Journal‘s daily email news blast.

That’s left all the talking to be done in court by long-winded attorneys and their witnesses, with occasional input from Tighe, who has kept the hearings orderly and progressing — albeit at a painfully slow and grueling pace.