Seen in the New York Times:
State Farm, Mississippi’s largest insurer, said it would follow the general terms of the agreement that it had worked out with trial lawyers and presented to Judge L. T. Senter Jr. of Federal District Court in January. Both plans would affect as many as 36,000 homeowners. State Farm, which has already paid out $1.1 billion in Mississippi, said it would pay at least $50 million under the new plan and perhaps several hundred million more.
But State Farm offered no improvements to the initial agreement, which Judge Senter had repeatedly said appeared to be tilted in favor of the insurance company and had refused to approve. Under the new arrangement, State Farm will bypass Judge Senter, and its dealings with storm victims will be approved and supervised by state regulators.
The article mentions that Judge Senter isn’t necessarily upset by this. As long as disputes are being settled, and appropriate oversight is being provided, it shouldn’t matter who the overseer is… especially if the path of least bureaucracy is being found.