As someone whose childhood winter chores included “shoveling the roof”, I have an intimate familiarity with the concept of the potential for roof collapse from the weight of excessive snow and ice. Winter storms this season have produced all-time record snowfall records in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and parts of New York. Winter Storm Jonas is the…
During my first decade of practicing law in Texas, I enjoyed a good professional relationship with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In those days, Greg, who is my age and earned his law degree one year after me, was a young defense attorney with the Houston law firm of Butler Binion, and was opposite me in…
Wisconsin’s so-called dog bite statute entitled “Owner’s Liability for Damage Caused by Dog” is currently set forth in Wis. Stat. § 174.02. Section 174.02(1)(a) deals with a “first bite” of a dog while § 174.02(1)(b) deals with a “second bite” of a dog with the owner or keeper of the dog being required to have…
Gary L. Wickert will be presenting a complimentary webinar on February 25, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Central) on Introduction To Property and Casualty Subrogation. From recognition of subrogation in difficult fact settings to effective and thorough, yet cost-effective, investigation of natural disasters, this 90-minute webinar will focus on training the claims/subrogation professional on when, how, and…
Just when you thought workers’ compensation subrogation in this country’s most difficult state could not get any more difficult, it does. In Zaldivar v. Prickett, 774 S.E.2d 688 (Ga. 2015), Prickett sued Zaldivar for injuries resulting from a 2009 work-related auto accident. The defendant blamed Prickett’s employer, Overhead Door Company, which was not a party…
Many years ago, a lawyer argued that the long-standing Texas rule prohibiting recovery of damages for loss-of-use of personal property, unless the property was a total loss or destroyed was unfair. City of Canadian v. Guthrie, 87 S.W.2d 316 (Tex. Civ. App. 1932). His client’s one-eyed, underfed mare lived a simple life. One night, however, she…
Trial lawyers are happy. On January 20, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued their written opinion in the long-anticipated ERISA subrogation case of Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, 2016 WL 228344 (Jan. 20, 2016). The U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a Plan beneficiary is…
With holiday shopping in full swing and Christmas a week away, there are growing concerns over the safety of one of the season’s hottest items – hoverboards. The year’s “must have” gift harkens back to the popular ‘80s movie Back To The Future II and has captured the imagination of young and old alike, their popularity…
Every year in North America insurers pay out tens of millions of claim dollars resulting from fires and feed damage caused by the spontaneous combustion and heating of hay mow – a pile of hay stored in or near a barn. Spontaneous combustion is the result of a chemical reaction that occurs when combustible materials…
A new Georgia Supreme Court decision has made it easier to defend third-party tort actions involving injured employees by reducing the recoveries when employer negligence contributes the work-related injury. Walker v. Tensor Mach., Ltd., 2015 WL 7135149 (Ga. 2015). Jock L. Walker was injured at work in August 2010 while he operated a machine that…