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…
The owner of the vintage 1968 57-foot Chris Craft Constellation Yacht could barely recognize the custom mahogany plank craftsmanship of his boat through the blackened ash and the tears. Yet it was the owner’s insurance company who should have been crying. After being put in dry storage for the winter at a local marina, a…
We receive many questions from clients regarding Minnesota subrogation claims, including relevant statutes of limitations. One of the most frequent questions I receive has to do with the Minnesota statute of limitations for personal injury actions. For subrogation professionals outside Minnesota, its statutory statutes of limitations may not be clear. A quick, surface reading of…
Statute of Limitations Could Run Before Accident Occurs. It doesn’t seem possible that a statute of limitations could expire even before a loss is suffered and damages are incurred. However, that is the case in Georgia due to some questionable case law being used by defendants to escape liability. Subrogation professionals everywhere should make a…
When The Tortfeasor Dies, Your Subrogation Claim Doesn’t Need To Die Too! The author, Franz Kafka, known for his dark situations which many people relate to, once wrote a very short story about omnipotent power floating just beyond our reach. You go to the city to see the law. Upon arrival outside the law building,…
When Driving Through Somebody’s Living Room Is Not Negligence Every day in America vehicles leave the roadway, travel across well-manicured lawns, smash through garden sheds, patio furniture, swing sets, and plow through the walls of a home, coming to rest inside of somebody’s living room or bedroom. These incidents leave millions of dollars in property…
Complex litigation and subrogation cases involving product liability and/or technical issues frequently require opinion testimony in the form of expert witnesses. The role of the expert is to educate lay judges and juries who lack knowledge about a particular issue or technology involved in a case. This includes everything from the design of a complex…
Approximately 12% to 14% of all accidents result in a total loss, a number which has been trending upward since 2002. Insurance companies faced with first-party claims on policies are responsible for paying the actual cash value or market value of an insured’s vehicle so the insured can replace it with a similar vehicle. In…
When dealing with photographs taken of other people, prudence requires that we consider the legal rights of the subject and the ethics of publishing the photo without their permission. Since the advent of digital photography, photographs have played a big role on the internet. Click. Upload. Post. Never has it been so easy and inexpensive…