MWL Names New Partner

Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (MWL) proudly announces the opening of its new branch office in New Orleans. The office is located at 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste. 402, in New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain with convenient access to New Orleans and other Louisiana state and federal courts. The Louisiana office will be…

Wisconsin Supreme Court Issues Surprising Pro-Insured Decision Permitting Stacking In Pre-2011 Auto Policies

A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision runs counter to it’s usual pro-carrier rulings and held that an insured may stack uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage from different polices issued from 2009 through 2011. The decision involved an issue of law that has been in constant flux for the last few years. This article will discuss the history…

Recovering Loss Of Use Damages In Texas: It’s Time For A Change

Two Texas vehicle owners driving identical vehicles are involved in accidents caused by a negligent tortfeasor. Both contact their insurance company regarding their damaged vehicles. Both must wait for an appraiser to inspect the vehicle and write a report. One vehicle is repairable, the other is considered “totaled.” The owner of the vehicle being repaired…

Confusion Surrounds Arizona Court of Appeals’ Opinion on Workers’ Compensation Statute Amendment

Third-Party Cause Of Action No Longer Automatically Assigned To Employee After One Year In a mysterious legal sleight of hand that would make David Copperfield envious, the Arizona Court of Appeals has reinvented the English language by making it possible to reassign something that wasn’t assigned in the first place. In Acosta v. Kiewit-Sundt, 2014…

Mandatory Arbitration of Illinois Auto Property Subrogation Claims Held Unconstitutional

As most subrogation professionals handling auto subrogation in Illinois know, Illinois Senate Bill signed into law effective January 1, 2012 changed subrogation in that state significantly. For the first time, Illinois mandated that in collision subrogation cases involving amounts less than $2,500, recently-enacted § 143.24d now required mandatory arbitration between all auto carriers. That development…