Introduction
In this success story we explore how CURE, in partnership with Claribase, created a scalable custom legal system to help the company navigate rapid growth going from $40 million to $250 million in premiums.
For more than 35 years, CURE Insurance has operated with a clear mission – to make auto insurance more affordable by pricing risk based on driving history, not income proxies like credit scores.
CURE was founded in New Jersey during an insurance affordability crisis and spent decades operating as a steady, regional insurer. But everything changed in the early 2020s.
What followed was a period of rapid growth, geographic expansion, and institutional transformation and with it, the need to rethink how core operational teams, especially legal, functioned at scale.
As CURE expanded into Michigan that brought with it more complex litigation environments. Legal operations quickly became one of the highest-risk areas of the business.
From Steady State to Rapid Growth
For nearly 30 years, CURE wrote roughly $40 – 45 million in annual premium. That changed after the company transitioned to new ownership in 2021 and expanded into Michigan following the auto insurance reform.
At the same time, legislative changes in New Jersey unexpectedly accelerated growth.
“Compared to four years ago, the company wrote about $40 – 45 million in premium. Now we write just under $250 million. So it’s been a good growth story.”
Private equity investment in 2022 further accelerated the pace of change. The mandate was clear: a small, founder-led insurer needed to institutionalize operations, modernize systems, and introduce scalable processes across the organization including legal.
The Challenge: A Legal Team Built From Scratch
CURE had long operated with an in-house law firm in New Jersey, complete with its own established systems but Michigan was different.
The litigation environment in Michigan was more complex, with different lawsuit structures, clustered claims, and significantly higher operational volume. And critically, there was no legal infrastructure in place.
“We built an in-house team in Michigan from nothing. There was no case management system. They were working out of pure emails, Google Calendars, and Excel sheets.”
At first, cases were logged in Google Sheets and nothing more. There were no workflows, no task dependencies, no due-date tracking, and no way to understand workload or forecast staffing needs.
“You log a case saying it exists. But there are 30 different actions that have deadlines from inception to conclusion and we had nothing beyond that initial log.”
The risk was obvious.
Missed deadlines, unmanaged caseloads, and unclear accountability created real exposure both financially and reputationally.
Why Off-the-Shelf Legal Software Didn’t Work
Like most organizations facing this problem, CURE explored off-the-shelf legal case management platforms. But every option came with the same issue: rigidity.
“All of them had limitations on customization that just weren’t right for CURE in Michigan.”
Recognizing that off-the-shelf tools couldn’t support the complexity of Michigan litigation, CURE was introduced to Claribase and the idea of using Airtable as a fully custom legal case management platform. Airtable could be designed around CURE’s exact workflows rather than forcing the team to adapt to someone else’s.
“If we went with another out-of-the-box system, it would’ve been about changing our vision to fit the tool rather than taking our vision and building it into reality.”
Designing for Control, Visibility, and Accountability
Early discovery with Claribase revealed several critical gaps:
- No way to measure workload or assign cases logically
- No verification that tasks were completed on time
- No forecasting for future staffing needs
- No centralized system of record
Claribase partnered closely with CURE’s legal leadership to design the system from the ground up translating litigation risk, court-driven deadlines, and staffing realities into enforceable system logic. The platform was built with layered automation, role-based permissions, task dependencies, and external integrations to ensure accountability, visibility, and operational control as case volume scaled.
One of the most impactful changes came from integrating Airtable with Google Calendar and email notifications.
“There’s one thing about missing written submission deadlines. It’s another thing when people don’t show up to court. That integration was huge.”
Version 1 Wasn’t the End – It Was the Beginning
The first version of the system launched in summer 2024. But after several months of real-world use, it became clear that something was missing.
“We built a visualization interface for a database but it wasn’t the daily driver of workflow and behavior we were going for.”
Instead of forcing the team to live with a “good enough” solution, CURE and Claribase paused, reassessed, and rebuilt key parts of the system.
“Sometimes when you start from scratch, you think you know where it should land. But halfway there, you realize it could and should be better.”
Version 2 transformed the platform from a data repository into a true case management system, prioritizing daily workflow, task prioritization, and real-time caseload visibility.
“Now it answers the question: ‘It’s Tuesday what should I be working on today?’”
A True Partnership, Not Just a Build
For CURE, the differentiator wasn’t just Airtable’s flexibility, it was the partnership behind it.
“There hasn’t been a single time we had a vision where the answer was ‘we can’t do that.’ [The Claribase team] might guide us in a different direction, but [they’ve] always helped us get there.”
Rather than acting as a purely technical vendor, Claribase functioned as a strategic partner learning the nuances of litigation, understanding business risk, and shaping workflows alongside the team.
“[The Claribase team] didn’t just ask for requirements and deliver on them. [They] helped shape the vision and that makes all the difference.”
Why Airtable Was the Right Choice
When asked what advice The CURE team would give to other organizations considering Airtable, the answer was simple: control and differentiation matter.
“If you’re doing the same thing as everyone else, you should expect the same outcome.”
Airtable provided the flexibility to evolve alongside CURE’s growing and changing needs without locking the business into rigid workflows or costly platform constraints.
“The norm with Airtable is that it’s built to your vision, not the other way around.”
Key Outcomes: From Visibility to Operational Control
With the new system in place, CURE’s legal team achieved:
- Real-time visibility into caseloads, deadlines, and attorney workload replacing fragmented spreadsheets and inbox-driven processes with a single source of truth
- Clear daily priorities for attorneys, reducing ambiguity and enabling more focused, proactive work
- At-a-glance insight for leadership into team capacity, workload distribution, and risk exposure
- Proactive deadline management, with critical dates surfaced automatically instead of discovered too late
Beyond immediate visibility, the platform delivered long-term operational leverage:
- A flexible foundation that scales with the business, supporting increased litigation volume and complexity
- Adaptable workflows and task logic, allowing the team to refine processes without replatforming
- Improved staffing and capacity planning, grounded in accurate, real-time operational data
- A durable operational layer, enabling accountability, consistency, and risk reduction at scale
Final Thoughts
CURE’s journey wasn’t about implementing a tool, it was about building a system that could scale with the business, reduce risk, and support long-term growth.
And as the organization continues to evolve, so will the platform supporting it.
“The platform gives you the ability to build from scratch. But that only gets you so far. You still need partners who help shape that vision for the better.”
If your current systems are holding you back, it may be time for a different approach.
Book an introductory call with Claribase to discuss how flexible, purpose-built systems can support growth, visibility, and operational control for your business.
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