A recent appellate decision out of Louisiana provides important clarity—and welcome reassurance—for workers’ compensation insurers and employers seeking to pursue and recover benefits from third-party tortfeasors independently. In Madden Gulf Coast LLC v. Hilark Industries, Inc., 2023 WL 8420961 (La. App. 2023), the court confirmed that an employer or its insurer can independently pursue a…
Introduction Workers’ compensation subrogation is more than a legal doctrine; it is a fundamental component of the grand bargain struck over a century ago in our country between employers and employees. This grand bargain ensured that injured workers would receive timely benefits without the need for litigation while protecting businesses from potentially crippling lawsuits. At…
Jason Wolk and Jeffrey Meyer were injured while working for J. Wolk Construction, LLC. Their workers’ compensation insurer, Grinnell Mutual, covered their claims, paying Wolk $900,969.83 and Meyer $815,829.47. The employees pursued legal action against multiple third parties, and before the case proceeded to trial, one of the defendants agreed to a $1,000,000 settlement. Each…
A federal court in Maryland has asked the Maryland Supreme Court to sound off on an issue regarding the apportionment of attorneys’ fees and costs between a workers’ compensation insurance company and an injured employee, following a large third-party settlement. The facts are somewhat unusual (although they shouldn’t be) because in this case, the workers’…
On September 19, 2024, in one of the most pro-subrogation decisions in a generation, the Nevada Supreme Court has overnight turned Nevada into one of the most favorable states for workers’ compensation subrogation. With the stroke of a pen, the court has done the following: Abandoned the “Breen Formula”—which it declared was “unworkable” and “no…
It is said that good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment. This 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…
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, there is a guard who says “You may not pass without permission.”…
In a rare example of how strong a workers’ compensation statutory lien can be, a Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed a ruling by a Workers’ Compensation Judge (affirmed by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB)) in which a workers’ compensation carrier was allowed to recover its full $45,530.48 lien out of the employee’s $675,000 third-party settlement,…
It’s the question every claims professional and trial attorney claims to know but few fully understand. In addition to paying for medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, independent…
A new Texas Court of Appeals decision has clarified the process by which a workers’ compensation carrier can settle directly with a third-party tortfeasor and thereby avoid having to reduce its lien by a pro rata share of the employee’s attorneys’ fees. Meanwhile, the process of “selling your lien” has never been less complicated and…