Most states permit a workers’ compensation carrier to assert a future credit against benefits otherwise payable when an injured employee recovers damages from a responsible third party. The availability of a future credit is now the rule rather than the exception. Yet, while the existence of the credit is widely accepted, the mechanics of how…
The Utah Supreme Court has issued an important decision for workers’ compensation and subrogation professionals navigating third-party recoveries and future credits. In HB Construction and/or Auto Owners Insurance Co. v. Labor Commission of Utah, the Court resolved a long-standing ambiguity in Utah Code § 34A-2-106(5) and clarified how attorney fees must be allocated when a…
The Eleventh Circuit’s December 22nd decision in Blanchard v. Walker is a timely cautionary tale for workers’ compensation carriers about the high cost of passivity in Alabama third-party litigation.[1] Although the case arose from a multistate fact pattern, its real lesson is procedural and strategic: a carrier’s lien and subrogation recovery depend on the continued…
The ongoing assault against subrogation continues. The Connecticut Supreme Court’s January 6th decision in Orlando v. Liburd, should be treated as a practical warning for carriers and subrogation professionals pursuing automobile physical damage recoveries in Connecticut.[1] It instructs us that, unless the policy expressly and effectively disclaims the Made Whole Doctrine as a limitation on…
Most states permit a workers’ compensation carrier to assert a future credit against benefits otherwise payable when an injured employee recovers damages from a responsible third party. The availability of a future credit is now the rule rather than the exception. Yet, while the existence of the credit is widely accepted, the mechanics of how…
Medicare is a federal health insurance program administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that primarily provides coverage to individuals age 65 and older, and also to certain younger individuals with qualifying disabilities and to people with end-stage renal disease. It is generally divided into Part A (hospital insurance), Part B (medical…
California’s Economic Loss Doctrine (ELD) has long been a source of confusion for subrogation professionals. The challenge is not merely understanding the doctrine’s contours, but applying it to common residential fire losses where a discrete component product damages structures and contents far beyond its own failure point. Until recently, most of the major California decisions…
About seven years ago, I became fascinated with autonomous vehicles for a very selfish reason: I hated my commute. Three hours a day behind the wheel felt like wasted life. I dreamed of the day when my car would drive itself—when I could answer emails, squeeze in a workout, take a nap, or finally catch…
There is a growing and troubling trend in courts across the country: denying subrogated insurance carriers the right to intervene in pending litigation on the theory that the insured’s attorney already “adequately represents” the insurer’s interests. While this assumption may appear superficially convenient, it rarely holds true in practice. Subrogation is complex. Its objectives differ…
On October 30, 2025, the Utah Supreme Court finally took a position regarding that state’s Collateral Source Rule and the recovery of medical expenses in tort cases. In Gardner v. Norman, 2025 WL 3030153 (Utah 2025), a unanimous court fundamentally reshaped Utah law governing the recovery of medical expenses and clarified the application of its…