The State - News from Sept. 26, 1989

A lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of 19 states, including California Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, alleging a massive conspiracy by major insurance companies to manufacture a “liability crisis” in the mid-1980s has been dismissed by a federal judge in San Francisco. U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer, who had signaled his intention to dismiss the suit last July, said at a court hearing last week that the attorneys general had fallen into a “fundamental fallacy” of seeing a complicated conspiracy and had been able to prove no boycott or coercion. Besides, Schwarzer added that the states have their own regulatory laws to deal with the charges made in the lawsuit and need not resort to a federal case. Van de Kamp said after the decision that the dismissal will be appealed to higher federal courts.