Kansas Decision Introduces Concept of “Statutory Deficit”. The Kansas Court of Appeals is holding class on why it is important to have subrogation counsel in workers’ compensation subrogation third-party cases – even in states which are favorable to carriers. In the 2020 case of Hawkins v. Southwest Kansas Co-op Service, 2020 WL 1649867 (Kan. App.…
City of Asbury Park v. Star Insurance Company, 2020 WL 3493526 (N.J. 2020). Large deductible workers’ compensation programs and policies with large self-insured retentions (SIR) were first introduced to the American insurance industry in the late 1980s with limited deductible options for medical and death benefits. Over time they have grown to become a key…
New Jersey Transit Corp. v. Sanchez, 2020 WL 2374054 (N.J. 2020). On May 12, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court answered a long-standing subrogation question regarding whether a workers’ compensation carrier is entitled to subrogation and/or reimbursement from a third-party tortfeasor who is covered by New Jersey no-fault insurance, even though the employee does not…
When a person applies for college, there is a possibility of receiving one of three letters: admitted, wait-listed, or rejected. It is nice to know either way if you are accepted, but what about “wait-listed”? You are not yet accepted, but you are not fully rejected – you are in limbo. In California, interventions are…
Workers’ compensation carriers and liability insurers have been in a state of high anxiety regarding the inevitable insurance claims which will result from employees contracting COVID-19 once businesses begin to reopen and employees all return to life as usual. At least in California, insurers received a little clarity in the form of Governor Gavin Newson’s…
The chances of contracting the Coronavirus (also called “COVID-19”) are slim, but the number of those infected is increasing daily. It is only a matter of time before a worker contracts COVID-19 through their place of employment (i.e., a doctor, emergency responder, etc.). After a worker exposed to the Coronavirus contracts the disease, there could…
When employees work remotely from home or other locations, the normal rules of course and scope can become complicated and confusing. The same is true of subrogation potential. When the employee is injured in their home, subrogation targets tend to shrivel up and blow away. Cybersecurity can also be greatly compromised when an employee utilizes…
Maryland Court Confuses Wisconsin Exclusive Remedy Rule For years now, lawyers, judges, and even courts in other states have been confused over the Exclusive Remedy Rule that exists here in Wisconsin. A clear example is the 1994 decision by the Maryland Supreme Court in Hastings v. Mechalske, Hastings v. Mechalske, 650 A.2d 274 (Md. 1994).…
It’s Like Taking Candy from a Very, Very Particular Baby Congress enacted the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) to provide workers’ compensation to specified employees of private maritime employers. 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs administers this Act, just as it does the Federal Employment Compensation Act (FECA). 5…
Understanding Hospital Liens in All 50 States The advent, development, and implementation of hospital and health care provider lien laws in the U.S. is a subject which has permeated civil litigation and personal injury law. Simply put, a hospital or health care provider lien is a statutory lien enacted for the benefit of hospitals or…