This month, Claimwire.com featured an in-depth and personal interview with Gary L. Wickert, partner at Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (“MWL”). Claimwire serves the insurance industry by providing forms, news, resources, and vendor information to assist insurance professionals involved in the field of workers’ compensation. Similar to MWL’s own website, Claimwire is a relatively new site that…
The claims history of most domestic insurance carriers is littered with billion dollar claims as a result of catastrophic losses caused by natural disasters. When God sends a hurricane, tornado, flood, or naturally-occurring fire, the resulting losses can be enough to put many insurance companies into receivership. With no third parties or obvious subrogation potential,…
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. would like to wish all of our clients and friends a very blessed Easter. While Easter means different things to different people, we celebrate the Good News which Easter represents. It is the fulfillment of the greatest Promise ever made – the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the…
What if the deck was stacked in such a way that insureds and tortfeasors could gerrymander and structure a tort settlement so as to ensure that the insured would never be “made whole”? Surely such ability would be a legal absurdity in a state where subrogation is supposedly favored for all of the societal benefits…
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (“MWL”) partners Ryan Woody and Jim Busenlener won a major victory for Medicare Advantage Organizations (“MAOs”). In Collins v. Wellcare Healthcare Plans, Inc., 2014 WL 7239426 (E.D. La. Dec. 16, 2014), the federal court recognized, for the first time, that MAOs are entitled to bring a Private Cause of Action…
Complex litigation and subrogation cases involving product liability and/or technical issues frequently require opinion testimony in the form of expert witnesses. The role of the expert is to educate lay judges and juries who lack knowledge about a particular issue or technology involved in a case. This includes everything from the design of a complex…
April Toy will be presenting a complimentary webinar on Introduction To Cargo Subrogation on May 7, 2015 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. (CST). This webinar will introduce the subrogation professional to the basic concepts of subrogating cargo claims under the Carmack Amendment and Carriage of Goods Sea Act (COGSA). The webinar will identify the major pitfalls that can befall…
One of the recurring questions Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (MWL) is called on to answer involves when and under what circumstances the insured suffering automobile property damage, or his or her subrogated automobile insurer, may recover for diminution in value of a damaged automobile. This article is intended to provide a global answer to…
Plan For The Best, Expect The Worst, And Prepare To Be Surprised Thomas Reid once said, “There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words.” Nowhere is this truism as important than in the settlement of third-party lawsuits involving workers’ compensation carriers’ subrogation liens and future credits. For lack…
There is a great deal of confusion in Louisiana regarding whether a workers’ compensation carrier can subrogate against or receive reimbursement from the proceeds of an uninsured or underinsured (UM/UIM) automobile policy. The Louisiana Supreme Court has unequivocally stated that a UM carrier is considered a third person under Louisiana workers’ compensation law. Travelers Ins.…