Since the release of KCIC’s newest Ligado Platform feature, our Bankruptcy Evidence Verification (BEV) tool, counsel networks nationally have been taking the product for a test drive. The result? A definitive buzz resounding throughout the industry.

BEV has taken a bold step forward to tackle injustice in the tort system and preserve evidence of asbestos-containing products within the record. Utilizing publicly available data from trusts, the BEV database contains over 125,000 job sites, 9,000 occupations and industry pairings, 1,600 products and images, and 1,400 trust documents. These figures just represent the baseline. The true goal of BEV is to encourage collaboration among defendants for each solvent entity’s benefit — a goal that has been received positively by both defendants and their counsel.

More so, the BEV interface is “slick and functional” — allowing you to easily curate exposure data from KCIC’s exhaustive database that matches with a claimant’s exposure. We have accomplished this using an in-house produced algorithm, which we have dubbed the “Fuzzy Match Search”. This search cross checks both trust data and claimant data for the following nexus categories: Job Site, Occupation, Product, and Industry.

In order to run a report, users simply enter the known exposure information for a claimant and then “Refresh Matches”, which generates a list of potential trust matches, along with each nexus point that substantiated the matches. The user-friendly report can then be edited to verify the matches, used to investigate the trust data further, and exported to a succinct Word document. The report becomes an indispensable resource that can be printed and taken to depositions to aid in obtaining a plaintiff admission to other sources of exposure.

However, the BEV tool does not stop there — it also serves as a data bank of information collected from bankruptcy trusts. Since bankruptcy trusts house their information within their own individualized claims management sites, it can be a logistical nightmare to determine which trusts may have sources of exposure that tie to a claimant’s exposure. KCIC solved this data-intensive problem by pulling together all this information, organizing it, and storing it within an easy-to-access database through the BEV portal on Ligado. Here users have access to search the database on the fly, giving way to a plethora of potential uses. For instance, if during a deposition you learn that the claimant worked at a job site that you were unaware of previously, you can navigate to the Bankruptcy Trust Search and search for the job site to determine which trusts have the site on their approved listings.

BEV is sparking a movement. Previously shrouded and complex, bankrupt companies and their associated exposures are being brought into the light. Attorneys are excited to begin using this potent tool to learn how it might help them and their clients. They are also eager to collaborate and share information to aid in making BEV as powerful as possible. While bankrupt companies may have historically disappeared from complaints and interrogatories after their filing for bankruptcy, KCIC is pleased to be part of a future where bankrupt companies are kept in evidence.

This blog was authored by Kathrin Hashemi, KCIC Senior Consultant.