As you may know, Gary Wickert recently appeared on a national Ringler Radio program, hosted by Larry Cohen. The program, titled “Driverless Car Litigation”, focused on the ever-changing intersection between the exploding industry of self-driving vehicles and litigation. The latest innovations in driverless cars were discussed, along with their likely impact on the insurance industry…
Recently, Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (MWL) successfully argued an appeal regarding a firefighter’s claims of defamation. The dispute stemmed from a local television broadcast in which a reporter discussed the disabled status of local firefighter. The firefighter had injured his elbow and ulnar nerve, (commonly called the “funny-bone”) resulting in numbness and tingling of…
Every year, property insurers write checks totaling nearly $15 billion in response to fire losses, large and small. Fire claims average nearly $50,000 and are the most expensive type of claim filed, followed by hail claims at $11,000. Claims professionals are often slow to remove their claims hat and put on their Sherlock Holmes costume,…
It seems that there are no lengths parties won’t go to in order to destroy what they perceive as the evil known as “subrogation.” Workers’ compensation subrogation professionals in Pennsylvania are familiar with the saga of the Domtar case, which began in 2013 and culminated in 2015 with the Supreme Court announcing that although §…
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (MWL) proudly announces the opening of its new branch office in California. The office is located at 500 N. State College Blvd, Suite 1100, Orange, California 92868, with convenient access to state and federal courts in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Central Valley. While our national subrogation program still…
Recently, in Kaitlin Woods Condominium Ass’n v. Kaitlin Woods, LLC, et al., 2017 WL 3234370 (Wis. 2017), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld a “synthetic stucco” (also known as Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS)) exclusion in a commercial general liability policy. The facts of the case are quite common—damages caused by water allegedly stemming…
Subrogation is the legal doctrine which allows one party, usually an insurance company, that pays a loss by its insured which was caused by a third party, to take over the rights of its insured against the third party and recover its claim payments. It wouldn’t make much sense if, after paying a first-party insurance…
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes,” Oscar Wilde famously said. Having represented the subrogation interests of insurance companies and self-insured companies around the world for the past 33 years, I’ve seen enough bad subrogation decisions to create a concrete list of the ten most often repeated mistakes when it comes to effectively…
Plaintiff-friendly judges and legislators in various states have gained strength and influence over the last twenty years, resulting in statutes and court decisions inimical to the subrogation and reimbursement rights of workers’ compensation carriers. North Dakota is fighting back. On March 13, 2017, the North Dakota legislature amended § 65-01-09, North Dakota’s workers’ compensation subrogation…
Some states, including Missouri, are known as “anti-subrogation” states. Missouri’s public policy prohibits the assignment of a personal injury claim, whether it is called an assignment, subrogation interest, or agreement to reimburse. Hays v. Missouri Highways and Transp. Comm’n, 62 S.W.3d 538 (Mo. App. 2001). This means that in Missouri, a health insurance company who…