Work Comp Third-Party Settlement Not Subject to Aitken Reduction In Arizona, a workers’ compensation carrier’s statutory lien under § 23–1023 is subject to being reduced if an employer is found to be negligent by a jury. In Aitken v. Indus. Comm’n of Ariz., 904 P.2d 456 (Ariz. 1995), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1208, the Arizona…
A generation ago, subrogation professionals were almost unheard of. Over the years, however, as prudent businesses and insurance companies began to insist on their statutory and contractual rights of subrogation, the profession has grown. On February 8, 2018, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion that grants subrogation adjusters and claims handlers the ability to…
A long-standing controversy in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation subrogation has been resolved—and resolved in a manner most unfriendly to Pennsylvania small businesses and the entire workers’ compensation industry. On June 19, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court hung their hat on a mistaken turn of a phrase found within § 319—the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation subrogation statute. Whitmoyer…
Aggressive subrogation practitioners always look for short cuts. Ours is an industry in which the “bottom line” means the difference between success and failure. If a workers’ compensation subrogation claim can be resolved quickly—even before the employee settles the third-party action filed by him—it improves the cost-effectiveness of the result. In many states, a workers’…
It is said that good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment. That 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 fault. Is it…
Gary Wickert and Jim Busenlener will be providing a complimentary webinar on April 11, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. (CDT). This webinar will provide a thorough and instructive look at the handling of longshore subrogation from first report to settlement and trial. It focuses on the nuts and bolts of the nature of longshore claims,…
It was the Wisconsin Legislature to the rescue. On January 6, 2018, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that a temporary employee on loan to a special employer appeared to have an option of either filing a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party tort suit against the special employer. In Carlos Rivera v. Alpine Insulation and…
There is little law in California regarding the subrogation/reimbursement and/or future credit rights of an employer or workers’ compensation carrier when an employee makes a third-party recovery because of legal malpractice in the handling of the employee’s attorney. This is surprising, given that California usually leads the nation on cutting-edge issues such as this. Despite the…
It seems that in Wisconsin, the Exclusive Remedy Rule, which prevents an employee from suing his employer in tort, isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. On January 6, 2018, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that a temporary employee on loan to a special employer appears to have an option. Carlos Rivera v.…
On January 26, 2018, the Texas Supreme Court refused to review the July 14, 2016 decision by the Texas Court of Appeals in Ins. Co. of the State of Pennsylvania v. Roberts, 506 S.W.3d 498 (Tex. App. 2016), review denied (Jan. 26, 2018). Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C., (MWL) had filed an amicus brief on…