Nebraska Supreme Court Sidesteps Issues Of Future Credit And Made Whole Doctrine In Workers’ Compensation Subrogation

Trial lawyers in Nebraska had high hopes that a questionable Court of Appeals decision from early 2016 might reinject the equitable Made Whole Doctrine into Nebraska workers’ compensation subrogation and eliminate any right of the carrier to a future credit whenever the injured employee files and pursues a third-party action. On December 16, 2016, the…

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¿Dónde Están Mis Beneficios? Workers’ Compensation Claims By Undocumented Employees

Following an election cycle in which illegal immigration became a touchstone issue, it seems only appropriate that claims handlers and subrogation professionals have a clear understanding of the many nuances involving workers’ compensation claims made by undocumented employees. Indeed, with more than 11 million such immigrants living and working in the country according to the…

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Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Future Credit Applies To Both Indemnity And Medical Benefits

What we once commonly knew to be true is, well, still true. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (state appellate court which hears appeals from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (W.C.A.B.)) has just issued a decision as to whether an employer’s future credit rights under § 319 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act extend beyond indemnity…

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Montana Court Ignores Public Policy Interests Of State Paying Comp Benefits In Conflict-Of-Law Subrogation Decision

Just when you thought that the level of judicial and legislative apathy and/or ignorance with regard to the huge financial benefits of workers’ compensation subrogation for businesses and the economy couldn’t get any higher, the Montana Supreme Court just lowered the bar even further. In a decision which will effectively increase the cost of doing business…

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SUBROGATING HAWAI’I: Navigating The Subrogation Trade Winds In “The Middle Of Nowhere”

Hawai’i. There is no place like it on earth. It is the most remote population center on the face of the planet, 2,400 miles from the nearest anything. It has the most diverse population on earth, with no racial or ethnic group constituting a majority and a continuing effort underway to create a separate region…

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Connecticut Supreme Court Grants Workers’ Compensation Carrier Right To File Third-Party Action

Until recently, Connecticut’s Workers’ Compensation Subrogation Statute, § 31-293, labored under the judicial interpretation by which an employer was allowed to file a third-party action, but its workers’ compensation carrier was not. Subrogated carriers had to hope that the employee or employer was willing to bring an action because if the employee didn’t file, and…

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SUING THE KING: State Sovereign Immunity And Tort Liability In All 50 States

Ronald Reagan famously said, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Government has become almost synonymous with ineptitude. So it should be no surprise that every day people are injured, killed, or sustain property damage at the hands of careless government employees. Damages available to…

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