MASS TORTS SUBROGATION ALERT: DePuy Pinnacle Jury Renders $502 Million Plaintiff’s Verdict

The second bellwether trial of the DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant multi-district litigation concluded on Thursday, March 17, 2016, with a whopping $502 million verdict against defendants DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. Following months of trial in the Northern District of Texas, the jury found in favor of all eight plaintiffs — five hip…

THE FAILURE OF NO-FAULT INSURANCE

The Future Of Auto Insurance In No-Fault States In its widest sense, “no-fault insurance” is a term used to describe any auto insurance coverage under which policyholders are paid for personal injuries and property damage they sustain in accidents through their own insurance company, regardless of fault. In many ways, it is like first-party coverage. However,…

Court Holds That Personal Injury Attorney Is Not Exempt From Having To Pay Medical Record Retrieval Or Certification Fees Assessed Pursuant To Wisconsin Statutes

In Moya v. Aurora Healthcare, Inc. and HealthPort Technologies, LLC, Appeal No. 2014AP2236, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided a case involving the construction and interpretation of Wis. Stats. §§ 146.81-146.83 to determine whether personal injury attorneys are exempt from the $8 certification and $20 retrieval fees under the health records statute § 146.83(3f) when an…

Court Issues Opinion Restricting Interpretation of Policy’s “Drive Other Car” Exclusion

Allstate’s insured was involved in an automobile accident with a plaintiff in which it was alleged that Allstate’s insured was negligent causing injury to the plaintiff. Allstate had issued a policy of liability insurance to the driver and her husband, which was in full force and effect at the time of the accident. The vehicle…

Massachusetts Supreme Court Ignores Clear Wording of Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Statute and Intent of Legislature

Since 1939, § 15 has provided that a workers’ compensation carrier receives first priority recovery from a third-party settlement or judgment. In particular, it provides that “the sum recovered” in the third-party action (also defined as the “gross sum received in payment for the injury…shall be for the benefit of the insurer, unless such sum…

“Blast” Fax Exclusion Upheld In Wisconsin

Dealing with a situation that is annoying, if nothing else, to quite a few businesses, a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision recently upheld an exclusion within an insurance policy that precluded coverage for allegations that it’s insured violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by continually sending faxes (“blast faxes”) without the permission or consent…