Medical Negligence Stories

Insurance commissioner wraps up 30-year career in state government

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Jane Cline, one of the most powerful, high profile women in West Virginia, wraps up a 30-year state government career today.

Cline has held two powerful posts - commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles from 1989 to 1997 and, since 2001, insurance commissioner.

While she headed the DMV, the agency expanded from two field offices to a dozen.

"The thought was that most people would be within one hour's drive of a DMV office," she said Monday during an interview in her bright corner office in the Greenbrooke Building, overlooking Appalachian Power Park.

"We really focused on customer service," she said. "We worked to make the field offices full-service operations where you could get a title, not just apply. And vehicle registration, drivers' licenses, all of those types of transactions. We also looked to expand the hours so people could access the offices.

"Employees working at the counters were classified as 'Clerk 1' or 'Clerk 2,'" Cline said. "We worked to create 'Customer Service Representative' positions and those pay grades were increased a good bit. These people were dealing with some complex transactions and handling some significant money at times."

The 10 years Cline has served as insurance commissioner will probably be remembered as the era when the state averted a medical malpractice crisis and privatized workers' compensation insurance.

Cline vividly remembers Jan. 15, 2001 - her first day as insurance commissioner.

"I went home and told Robert I'd made a big mistake," she said, recalling the conversation she had with her husband, Robert Chilton. "I just knew there were problems. The first year here I walked into the medical malpractice crisis."

Lawsuits were causing doctors to leave the state. Companies that provided medical malpractice insurance were leaving, too.

Cline said she worked closely with then-Gov. Bob Wise to address the problems, "which required our putting together a lot of statistical information to be able to tell the Legislature and others what was actually going on in the insurance marketplace.

"It ended up in a six-week-or-so legislative session and then, working with BRIM (the state's Board of Risk and Insurance Management) to put together a state-run program for our doctors and, ultimately, the creation of the West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co.," a physician-owned insurance company.

My Father Was a Medical Malpractice Victim – A True Story ...

Years later, while I was in college, our case came up for trial. I joined my mom for part of the trial, since it was during final exams. Being in Court was unfamiliar territory. Everything was formal. The procedures, the words, the questions-all need explaining. Our lawyer was a big-time lawyer whose hair was gray and was respected by numerous lawyers who passed him in the hallways in the courthouse. Their nods and greetings were deferential- with respect for his accomplishments and greatness. I watched with fascination the rapt attention everyone had during cross-examination of the primary target in the case- a young doctor in training who committed the gravest of medical sins. Our lawyer was intense. The barrage of questions put to the young unapologetic doctor were non-stop. The answers were not satisfactory to our lawyer, or to the jury, or so it seemed to me. Closing arguments came after three weeks of trial. I managed to arrive just as the trial resumed that day. I rushed from school to be in Court with my mom. What I witnessed that day caused me to apply to law school. Before that day, I was a biology major and was intent upon applying to medical school. You see, my father was a doctor and most of my family are doctors. I thought that was the path I’d naturally take. Not after witnessing closing remarks. I remember most clearly the accusations directed at the young inexperienced doctor. I saw his red face and neck. I wanted to reach across the aisle of the courtroom and pummel him with my fists. That would be true justice! That would satisfy my anger that had built up for years waiting for this disputed case to come up for trial. Fortunately for the doctor, my senses overcame my desires to quash this little bug. He never knew what I wanted to do to him that day. I’ve been a medical malpractice trial lawyer for the past 17 years now. The first 4 years as a defense lawyer representing doctors, hospitals and folks sued in accident cases. The next 13 years I spent representing injured victims in their quest for justice. When asked by a colleague which I prefer, representing injured victims or the wrongdoing doctor, my answer has always been clear…the injured victim.

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