JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star

A Missouri wreck that happened seven years ago along Interstate 70 could force an insurance industry giant to do something plaintiff lawyers across the country have sought for years: Release documents that allegedly show how Allstate Insurance Co. set up a claims payment system in the 1990s that shortchanged clients while earning the company huge profits. Earlier in that case, a Jackson County judge fined Allstate $25,000 a day until it produces the documents, which involve about 12,500 pages of slides prepared by consultant McKinsey & Co. The fine now stands at about $1.4 million. Allstate officials say the documents include trade secrets used to create company policies, methods and procedures for handling claims.