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Located in Connecticut’s capital city of Hartford, the Office of the Claims Commissioner plays a unique and vital role in state government. The office manages all legal claims filed against the State of Connecticut: cases where citizens allege damages or injuries caused by state actions or property. These claims range from property damage to personal injury, and in each instance, the office evaluates whether the state actually bears legal responsibility or to what extent.
That responsibility falls to Robert Shea, the state’s current Claims Commissioner. Appointed by Governor Ned Lamont in 2023, Shea oversees a team of four that handles roughly five hundred claims every year. “We’re lean and mean,” Shea said. “We work hard to get claims decided quickly and fairly.”
To manage that caseload, the office relies on Journal Technologies’ eCourt case management system, which centralizes documents, automates workflows, and supports every stage of the claims process. “We open every claim in eCourt,” explained Shea. “From initial filing to evidentiary hearing to final decision, everything is stored and tracked in the system. It’s incredibly easy to use, and uploading or downloading a document takes seconds.”
Before implementing eCourt nearly a decade ago, the office managed claims manually via a paper-based process. As you might imagine, this was quite cumbersome and made it difficult to organize filings and monitor case progress. The move to eCourt transformed those operations. “It’s made our office much more efficient in reviewing and deciding claims,” said Shea. “I couldn’t imagine doing this work without it.”
With the help of the Journal Technologies team, Shea hopes to begin a new era of transparency for claims against the state. The Office of the Claims Commissioner is preparing to launch a public search portal that allows any member of the public to view past claims and decisions online.
The ability to search for and filter certain decisions is something Shea believes will be essential. “It’s really fascinating,” he said: “For example, if you wanted to see every claim filed against the Department of Transportation in 2024, you’ll be able to search and access those decisions yourself.”
And Shea sees even more potential beyond the public portal. With the help of artificial intelligence, he envisions using the claim data stored in eCourt to help state agencies identify trends like recurring injury locations or common claim types. For example, AI could help agencies identify a specific road with a high rate of tree fall claims, or a certain path at a state university with numerous injury claims due to ice.
“It’s all about using data to make the state safer for its citizens,” Shea said. “With the information we already have in eCourt, there’s an opportunity to help agencies see where risks are occurring and take preventive action.
Ultimately, Shea views eCourt as more than just a case management system: it’s a foundation for managing and reducing risk to Connecticut taxpayers. This outlook has served him well in his first two years as Claims Commissioner, and he and his team will continue to do their part to make Connecticut a better place.
“This platform helps us serve the public,” Shea concluded. “It’s efficient, it’s user-friendly, and it’s made a real difference in how we do our jobs every day.”