Workers’ Compensation

Every experienced subrogation professional understands the appeal of settling a workers’ compensation subrogation lien directly with the at-fault party’s liability carrier. The file appears straightforward. Liability is clear. The lien is documented. The liability adjuster is willing to write a check. No lawsuit has been filed; the injured worker is not actively pursuing a claim,…

Workers’ compensation subrogation was never intended to be a windfall for insurance carriers. It was, and remains, a carefully constructed legislative mechanism designed to serve broader economic and societal goals. At its core, subrogation ensures that the ultimate cost of an injury is borne by the party responsible for causing it, rather than by employers,…

Texas workers’ compensation subrogation is governed by a comprehensive statutory framework that leaves little room for judicial discretion. A workers’ compensation carrier’s right to reimbursement is firmly established as a “first money” right, meaning that any recovery obtained from a third party must first be applied to reimburse the carrier for benefits paid before the…

The Utah Supreme Court has issued an important decision for workers’ compensation and subrogation professionals navigating third-party recoveries and future credits. In HB Construction and/or Auto Owners Insurance Co. v. Labor Commission of Utah, the Court resolved a long-standing ambiguity in Utah Code § 34A-2-106(5) and clarified how attorney fees must be allocated when a…

The Eleventh Circuit’s December 22nd decision in Blanchard v. Walker is a timely cautionary tale for workers’ compensation carriers about the high cost of passivity in Alabama third-party litigation.[1] Although the case arose from a multistate fact pattern, its real lesson is procedural and strategic: a carrier’s lien and subrogation recovery depend on the continued…

Most states permit a workers’ compensation carrier to assert a future credit against benefits otherwise payable when an injured employee recovers damages from a responsible third party. The availability of a future credit is now the rule rather than the exception. Yet, while the existence of the credit is widely accepted, the mechanics of how…

Pennsylvania’s Statutory Employer Doctrine and the Yoder Decision Pennsylvania’s Statutory Employer Doctrine, a cornerstone of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (“WCA”), is once again at the center of a fierce legal and political battle—this time following the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s October 23, 2025, decision in Yoder v. McCarthy Construction, Inc.. The Statutory Employer Doctrine…