While drafting this article, I looked up at a video monitor in my office which streams Fox News. Two men playing Pokémon Go had just fallen off a cliff in Encinitas, California. It was not reported at the time what injuries they sustained, but the men were taken to a trauma center. One of them…
In the 2003 Walt Disney blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl are in a cavern trying to reverse their curse when Elizabeth invokes the right of parley and notes that, according to the Pirate Code, she must be taken to their…
Even Non-Employer Contractors Are Entitled To Exclusive Remedy Protection Exclusive remedy protection is being handed out to non-employers like candy on Halloween by courts and legislatures across the nation, and Ohio is the latest state to join the giveaway. On April 19, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled for the first time that on construction…
Until recently, the District of Columbia workers’ compensation subrogation statute, found at § 32-1535, was silent on how or whether attorneys’ fees/costs are to be charged or apportioned when the worker files suit. When an employer or workers’ compensation insurance carrier initiates an action or negotiates a settlement when it is received and assigned, because…
Trucking insurers issuing motor carrier policies which contain MCS-90 Endorsements may be overlooking significant subrogation and recovery opportunities. MCS-90 subrogation is a fascinating and under-utilized means of recovery that can significantly increase an insurance carrier’s bottom line. Understanding the history behind and developing a working knowledge of MCS-90 Endorsements is essential for any adjuster or subrogation…
The Exclusive Remedy Rule is neither exclusive nor a remedy. What began as a cornerstone of the social insurance experiment known as workers’ compensation has become so riddled with leaks that employers and their insurers often give up on subrogation in order to protect themselves from liability they were never intended to bear. One of…
It actually makes very little legal sense and for all intents and purposes is fundamentally antithetical to a free market, capitalist society. Its underpinnings can be traced to Germany’s Second Reich and its Prime Minister, Otto Von Bismarck. It has ties to Marxism and Socialism and its evolution has been fueled by populism and social…
Virginia Court of Appeals Defies Trial Lawyers Association The Virginia Court of Appeals just gave a big boost in the arm to Special Arbitration of workers’ compensation liens. Article First (Compulsory Provisions) of the Special Rules and Regulations (revised January 3, 2006) states: Upon settlement of a claim or suit, signatory companies must submit any…
For over a decade, state and federal courts throughout the nation have wrestled with the issue of whether FEHBA (Federal Employees Health Benefit Act of 1959) preempts state subrogation laws. 5 U.S.C. §§ 8901-8914. Both Missouri and Arizona are well-known anti-subrogation states. See Wayne v. Bankers Multiple Line Ins. Co., 796 S.W.2d 660 (Mo. Ct.…
Gary Wickert will be presenting a live webinar on New Jersey Automobile Subrogation: The Nuts and Bolts on June 14, 2016 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. (CDT). This webinar is free to attend and will cover topics such as PIP, Med Pay, UM/UIM, property claims, deductible reimbursement, no-fault subrogation, suspension of driver’s licenses, and much more. Special…