ABSTRACT
This paper examines how automobile insurers reinterpret statutory duties, procedural requirements, and evidentiary standards during routine liability determinations. Through analysis of statutory frameworks governing safe backing, signaling, comparative fault, and claims-handling obligations in Washington State, the paper argues that everyday administrative practices create a parallel system of ‘practical law’ that diverges from published statutes. Consumers rarely possess the legal knowledge, documentation access, or financial resources to dispute these determinations, while insurers benefit from institutional authority and economic incentives that favor partial fault allocations. The result is a structural dynamic in which insurers can reshape the meaning of law ‘in the name of the law’, quietly reconstructing drivers’ duties through routine claims. The paper situates this phenomenon within a broader discussion of regulatory limits, procedural asymmetry, and the gap between written law and applied law in auto insurance systems.
Chen, Jie, How Auto Insurers Act ‘In the Name of the Law’ (November 13, 2025).
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