It is said that good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment. That pithy aphorism is generally true in life, but is particularly true when a company sees significantly increased workers’ compensation insurance premiums following a serious workers’ compensation claim. The same is true even if the claim was not the employer’s fault. Is it…
It’s going to be a banner year for trial lawyers and a tough year for auto insurers. More than 3,000 people are killed on U.S. roads every year in distracted driving crashes, and the use of cellphones while driving has become one of the main reasons why. A new study authored by Zendrive, a San…
Gary Wickert and Jim Busenlener will be providing a complimentary webinar on April 11, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. (CDT). This webinar will provide a thorough and instructive look at the handling of longshore subrogation from first report to settlement and trial. It focuses on the nuts and bolts of the nature of longshore claims,…
Extinguishing Third-Party Liability as a Prerequisite to Contribution The absence of a simple sentence in a release signed by the claimant after settling a liability claim is costing liability carriers millions of dollars in contribution recoveries across the country. By the time they discover the mistake, it is too late. In contribution claims, a liability…
Delays in Referring File to Subrogation Counsel Can Be Expensive. In July 2017, we published an article in the Claims Journal entitled “Ten Subrogation Mistakes Insurance Companies Keep Making.” A copy of the somewhat controversial article can be viewed HERE. Thirty-four years of subrogation litigation experience had distilled ten of the most common mistakes that…
It was the Wisconsin Legislature to the rescue. On January 6, 2018, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that a temporary employee on loan to a special employer appeared to have an option of either filing a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party tort suit against the special employer. In Carlos Rivera v. Alpine Insulation and…
When multiple insurers provide coverage for a single loss or accident, things can get confusing. Coinsurance can arise as a result of conscious risk-sharing or accidentally when two policies have overlapping coverage. Litigation involving who pays what, when, and in what order has become a cottage industry involving both subrogation and contribution. Understanding all the…
There is little law in California regarding the subrogation/reimbursement and/or future credit rights of an employer or workers’ compensation carrier when an employee makes a third-party recovery because of legal malpractice in the handling of the employee’s attorney. This is surprising, given that California usually leads the nation on cutting-edge issues such as this. Despite the…
Ridesharing has officially arrived in New York, and confusion over New York no-fault insurance and PIP Loss Transfer has arrived with it. On June 29, 2017, the New York State Assembly approved, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed, the state’s $153 billion budget, which included changes in state law providing for ridesharing and starting a rule-making…
E-cigarettes are advertised and sold as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. They literally burst onto the scene back in 2007 and are now a $7 billion global industry made up of roughly 500 brands. Some of the most popular brands include V2, Halo, VaporFi, and blu. By some projections, e-cigarette sales could surpass conventional cigarettes…