In recent years, several insurance companies have initiated lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against personal injury law firms, medical providers, and litigation funders. These actions allege coordinated efforts to defraud insurers through schemes involving staged accidents, unnecessary medical treatments, and inflated claims.
For instance, in June 2025, Roosevelt Road Specialty and its reinsurance program, Tradesman Program Managers, filed a federal RICO lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York. The suit targets the law firm William Schwitzer & Associates, along with physicians, chiropractors, and other medical providers. The complaint alleges that these parties conspired to recruit construction workers—many undocumented—to stage or exaggerate workplace injuries. These workers were then referred to various clinics to undergo unnecessary and invasive medical procedures, including surgeries, to inflate personal injury and workers’ compensation claims.
Similarly, in October 2025, Merchants Mutual Insurance Company filed a RICO action against New York defendants, including the law firm William Schwitzer & Associates, several medical professionals, and litigation funders. The lawsuit alleges a scheme to defraud insurers through staged accidents and fraudulent medical treatments.
Uber Technologies has also employed RICO statutes in its legal strategy. In October 2025, Uber filed multiple RICO lawsuits against personal injury lawyers and medical providers across New York, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania. The company alleges that these parties conspired to inflate minor auto accident claims into million-dollar lawsuits to exploit Uber’s substantial insurance coverage. The allegations assert that attorneys referred clients to unethical medical providers who conducted unnecessary treatments, thereby manufacturing evidence of serious injury to boost settlement amounts.
Allstate Insurance Company has been active in pursuing RICO claims as well. In August 2025, Allstate filed a federal lawsuit against a New York medical supplier, accusing the company of orchestrating a fraud scheme that cost the insurer more than $125,000 and exploited the state’s no-fault auto insurance system. The case alleges that the defendants submitted hundreds of false insurance claims for rental pain management devices prescribed under pre-set treatment plans, regardless of patient need.
These legal actions highlight a growing trend among insurers to utilize RICO statutes as a tool to combat alleged fraudulent schemes involving legal and medical professionals. The outcomes of these cases could have significant implications for the personal injury legal landscape and the strategies employed by insurers to address fraud.