KCIC

KCIC, a leading consulting firm specializing in valuation services for mass tort litigation and product liability, recently took center stage at a major industry conference, where Michelle Potter, company’s COO and senior managing director, spoke on the opening panel. Its presentation, which focused on national filing trends in mass tort litigation, set the tone for the entire event, drawing the largest audience of the conference. Attendees filled the room, eager to capture the insights KCIC provided, taking notes and snapping photos of the data-rich slides.

The impact of this presentation extended beyond just the opening session. Throughout the conference, KCIC’s work was referenced repeatedly, and praise for their contributions to the industry was widespread.

Jonathan Terrell, the president notes, “Although no one pays us directly for the national filing dataset we maintain and share, we continue to present this information as a service to the corporations and attorneys in the field. By doing so, we have established KCIC as a respected thought leader in the mass tort and product liability sectors.”

KCIC’s expertise in gathering and analyzing large datasets is one of the key pillars of its valuation services.

“Our ability to understand the big picture from the perspective of reliable data,” Terrell says, is what sets KCIC apart. This commitment to data integrity ensures that the company’s clients receive a thorough and accurate assessment of potential liabilities, a necessity in today’s complex legal environment.

In addition to their data-driven presentations, KCIC regularly chairs one of the highest-rated panels at these conferences: a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discussion. Now in its third year, this panel features defense attorneys from diverse backgrounds—Black, Asian, Hispanic, queer, and others—representing the range of perspectives present in today’s legal landscape. KCIC’s involvement in the DEI panel underscores another vital aspect of the firm’s work: its close relationships with defense counsel nationwide.

These relationships are particularly important when valuing product liability, which Terrell likened to real estate: local knowledge is essential. KCIC maintains these connections through its proprietary Ligado platform, which defense attorneys regularly access to collaborate and share insights. This qualitative input from counsel on the ground is just as crucial as the quantitative data, allowing KCIC to deliver more nuanced and precise client valuations.

However, KCIC understands that qualitative assessments must be grounded in reliable data. The firm often emphasizes, “no man’s opinion is better than his information,” which guided its work in assembling comprehensive datasets, often from disparate and disorganized sources. Companies involved in litigation typically have information scattered across various platforms—defense counsel, in-house counsel, insurers, and risk managers—which makes the task of creating a single, reliable dataset particularly challenging. KCIC’s experience consolidating and organizing this information into one centralized platform is unmatched. Its litigation management systems ensure all stakeholders can access the same data, creating a powerful network effect that enhances collaboration and decision-making.

A key component of KCIC’s valuation services is its ability to model cash flows under various assumptions. The firm forecasts future liabilities and models insurance coverage, a critical factor in determining a company’s potential exposure. KCIC pioneered the development of insurance policy databases, which are now integral to analyzing how different elements of an insurance policy might respond to liability claims. Given that each state has its own body of law governing insurance calculations, the complexity of these analyses can be immense. With claims usually spanning an array of different dates of exposure, KCIC’s ability to quickly perform millions of individual calculations is vital for clients.

KCIC’s deep understanding of both the liability and insurance sides of valuation is further enhanced by its long-standing partnerships with coverage law firms that represent defendant companies. These relationships allow the company to integrate legal expertise into its models, ensuring that the analyses are both legally sound and practically useful.

The firm’s expertise in data analysis, local litigation conditions, and insurance offsets all come together in one of KCIC’s most important service areas: due diligence in corporate acquisitions and divestitures. When a target company has legacy liabilities, its market value can be significantly diminished until those liabilities are understood and offsetting insurance assets are identified. KCIC’s ability to quickly assess both the scope of liabilities and the strength of available insurance assets is highly valued by private equity firms and other investors. This capability often proves critical in facilitating a company’s successful acquisition or sale. In some cases, KCIC is even called upon to revisit analysis years later when the same company is back on the market.

Through its comprehensive valuation services, KCIC has built a reputation for delivering data-driven insights that shape the mass tort and product liability landscape. Whether presenting at industry conferences, modeling complex insurance scenarios, or advising on corporate acquisitions, KCIC remains at the forefront of the valuation services industry, offering clients the clarity and expertise to navigate today’s most challenging legal environments.