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…
The Structure of New Mexico’s Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Scheme The structure of New Mexico’s workers’ compensation subrogation scheme is unlike that of many other states, and it creates a vulnerability that subrogation professionals must understand before it is too late. Unlike most states, New Mexico’s workers’ compensation statute, § 52-5-17, gives the injured employee exclusive…
Workers’ compensation subrogation is always a tricky business, but nowhere is it more bewildering than in Michigan when a work-related injury arises out of a motor vehicle accident. The state’s unique and confounding no-fault system was designed to streamline compensation and reduce litigation, but for carriers attempting to assert subrogation rights, it has produced a…
It is a tenet of modern workers’ compensation practice that expediency and efficiency in returning an injured employee to work benefits everyone involved. Nowhere is this goal met more directly and effectively than in the securing and utilization of nurse case management services. These professionals coordinate and monitor the medical treatment of injured workers, ensuring…
The Arkansas subrogation landscape is notoriously hostile toward insurance carriers, particularly in the workers’ compensation context. Anchored in a sweeping application of the “Made Whole Doctrine,” Arkansas courts have historically treated subrogated carriers as afterthoughts in the allocation of third-party recovery. However, a recent federal court decision—French v. Amazon.com, Inc.—delivers a long-awaited dose of clarity…
On July 23, 2025, the Iowa Court of Appeals gave us a stark reminder that a deceptively intricate statutory framework governs workers’ compensation subrogation in Iowa, and even seasoned litigators can find themselves ensnared by its procedural pitfalls. In Midwest Builders’ Casualty Mutual Co. v. RP Constructors, LLC, 2025 WL 2057804 (Iowa App. 2025), an…