The quid pro quo premise underlying the social compromise known as workers’ compensation is simple: an employee injured at work receives no-fault medical expenses and wage replacement indemnity benefits and, in exchange, the employer is given protection from employee lawsuits and a statutory right to be reimbursed from the tortfeasor who actually caused the work-related…
Kansas Decision Introduces Concept of “Statutory Deficit”. The Kansas Court of Appeals is holding class on why it is important to have subrogation counsel in workers’ compensation subrogation third-party cases – even in states which are favorable to carriers. In the 2020 case of Hawkins v. Southwest Kansas Co-op Service, 2020 WL 1649867 (Kan. App.…
New York’s anti-subrogation rule (“ASR”) is found in common law and is not statutorily based. The anti-subrogation rule is a common-law doctrine crafted by the New York Court of Appeals “both to prevent the insurer from passing the incidence of loss to its own insured and to guard against the potential for conflict of interest…
Good first-party claims practice requires prompt repair of damaged vehicles. Obviously, the time it takes to repair a damaged vehicle depends on the complexity of the claim, the nature and extent of the damages, and the availability of quality replacement parts. An insured will usually be contacted by their auto carrier within a couple of…
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, the term “no-fault” is most commonly used…
Attorneys Stephen Smith and Jacob Simon will be presenting a complimentary one-hour live webinar on A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma: Changes to Michigan’s No-Fault Scheme on July 28, 2020 at 10:00-11:00 a.m. (Central). The Michigan Legislature passed no-fault auto insurance laws in 1973 and has been holding on to this dysfunctional…
City of Asbury Park v. Star Insurance Company, 2020 WL 3493526 (N.J. 2020). Large deductible workers’ compensation programs and policies with large self-insured retentions (SIR) were first introduced to the American insurance industry in the late 1980s with limited deductible options for medical and death benefits. Over time they have grown to become a key…
New Jersey Transit Corp. v. Sanchez, 2020 WL 2374054 (N.J. 2020). On May 12, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court answered a long-standing subrogation question regarding whether a workers’ compensation carrier is entitled to subrogation and/or reimbursement from a third-party tortfeasor who is covered by New Jersey no-fault insurance, even though the employee does not…
When a person applies for college, there is a possibility of receiving one of three letters: admitted, wait-listed, or rejected. It is nice to know either way if you are accepted, but what about “wait-listed”? You are not yet accepted, but you are not fully rejected – you are in limbo. In California, interventions are…
The federal government is everywhere. It employs nearly 9.1 million workers, which is nearly 6% of total U.S. workforce. This includes nearly 2.1 million federal employees, 4.1 million contract employees, 1.2 million grant employees, 1.3 million active duty military personnel, and more than 500,000 postal service employees. They operate trucks, construct highways, build buildings, drive…