Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. has consistently advised its Louisiana clients to always intervene in third-party tort suits to recover workers’ compensation benefits, as some published opinions have suggested that a workers’ compensation carrier waives its right of recovery if it does not intervene after receiving notice of suit. A recent case from the Louisiana…
DetailsOn August 8, 2016, the 11th Circuit issued its opinion in Humana v. Western Heritage, 15-11436 (11th Cir., August 8, 2016). It is a major victory for Medicare Advantage Organizations (MOAs) and a major blow to liability insurers. Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer (MWL) attorney, Ryan Woody, filed an amicus brief for America’s Health Insurance Plans…
DetailsInsurance subrogation professionals are routinely faced with minimum limits scenarios which complicate otherwise straightforward subrogation cases. When a third-party liability carrier’s insurance limits are insufficient to pay the claims of multiple claimants, the carrier must begin to assess the hierarchy of the claimants. In order to do this, the carrier must be familiar with the…
DetailsThe amount and dollar value of insurance claims relating to property loss alone dwarf all other lines of insurance. Water losses in the U.S. result in more than $9 billion in property damage annually. Fire losses result in more than $12 billion in annual damage. Hailstorms cause over $1 billion in damage. Homeowners’ and commercial…
DetailsThe Ant And The Grasshopper: Improving Plan Subrogation Language For The Winter Ahead In a field one summer’s day a grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. A group of ants walked by, grunting as they struggled to carry plump kernels of corn. “Where are you going with those heavy things?”…
Details“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough,” Mark Zuckerberg famously said. Good advice, unless you’re a residential moving company. The residential home moving industry is changing rapidly and it’s essential that the subrogation professional keep up to date on the most recent developments. For decades, the…
DetailsMatthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (“MWL”) is pleased to announce that Sara Schmeling has joined the firm as an insurance litigation associate. Sara’s practice areas include insurance litigation and subrogation of all lines of insurance, with an emphasis on workers’ compensation subrogation. Sara obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Political Science (with an…
DetailsIn a recent major water and mold damage subrogation case in New York, the focus was on negligent maintenance and the failure to detect a major defect in a commercial HVAC system, which ultimately led to major water and mold damage and a large subrogation claim. The interesting aspect of this case, aside from the…
DetailsWhile drafting this article, I looked up at a video monitor in my office which streams Fox News. Two men playing Pokémon Go had just fallen off a cliff in Encinitas, California. It was not reported at the time what injuries they sustained, but the men were taken to a trauma center. One of them…
DetailsIn the 2003 Walt Disney blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl are in a cavern trying to reverse their curse when Elizabeth invokes the right of parley and notes that, according to the Pirate Code, she must be taken to their…
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