PENNSYLVANIA COMP CARRIER RECOVERS FULL LIEN AFTER ADVISING PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL THAT LIEN WAS MUCH SMALLER: Janelle Newsome, Petitioner v. City of Philadelphia (Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.), Respondent, 2024 WL 3406202 (Pa. Commw. 2024).

Newsletter, Workers' Compensation

In a rare example of how strong a workers’ compensation statutory lien can be, a Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed a ruling by a Workers’ Compensation Judge (affirmed by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB)) in which a workers’ compensation carrier was allowed to recover its full $45,530.48 lien out of the employee’s $675,000 third-party settlement,…

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DELAWARE COURT SAYS IT IS NOT BAD FAITH IF CARRIER CHOOSES NOT TO SUBROGATE Patel v. State Farm, 2024 WL 3425787 (Del. Super. 2024)

Newsletter, Subrogation

A Delaware court has thrown a small blanket of precedent over the smoldering embers of claims by some insureds with large deductibles that their insurance company is guilty of bad faith if it does not attempt to subrogate and recover the insured’s deductible. On August 2, 2020, Praveen Patel’s house located at 403 Derby Way,…

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THE FUTURE OF AUTO SUBROGATION IS HERE: Pursuing Claims Involving Automated Driving Systems

Auto, Med Pay, PIP, Newsletter, Subrogation

We are still years away from full implementation of true self-driving cars in the U.S., but each step we take dramatically complicates and changes the face of auto claims handling, vehicle repairs, and subrogation litigation. When catastrophic claims are paid as a result of a traffic accident resulting from a failure of an automated driving…

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Subrogation Opportunities

WHAT IF SUBROGATION WAS AS SIMPLE AS PUSHING A BUTTON?: State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. Moving & Storage, Inc., 2024 WL 1061574 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 2024)

Newsletter, Subrogation

In one of our most widely-reprinted and widely-read articles, “Ten Subrogation Mistakes Insurance Companies Keep Making”, the number one most prevalent and most costly mistake is waiting too long to involve subrogation counsel. It sounds like an MWL marketing pitch, and of course, in many ways it is. But it is also the truth. The…

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WHICH WORKERS’ COMPENSATION “BENEFITS” CAN BE SUBROGATED? Recovery of Case Management Costs, Medical Bill Audit fees, Rehabilitation Benefits, Utilization Review Costs, IME’s, Nurse Case Worker Fees, Attorneys’ Fees, and Other “Allocated” Loss Adjustment Expenses

Newsletter, Workers' Compensation

It’s the question every claims professional and trial attorney claims to know but few fully understand. In addition to paying for medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, independent…

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Texas

TEXAS COURT MAKES IT EASIER FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CARRIER TO SETTLE DIRECTLY WITH THE TORTFEASOR AND AVOID PAYING ATTORNEYS’ FEES TO THE EMPLOYEE Sentry Casualty Company v. Bravin, 2024 WL 3083299 (Tex. App. 2024).

Newsletter, Workers' Compensation

A new Texas Court of Appeals decision has clarified the process by which a workers’ compensation carrier can settle directly with a third-party tortfeasor and thereby avoid having to reduce its lien by a pro rata share of the employee’s attorneys’ fees. Meanwhile, the process of “selling your lien” has never been less complicated and…

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“MY INSURED’S BRAKES FAILED!”: The Oldest and Newest Excuse in Denying Auto Liability Claims

Auto, Med Pay, PIP, Newsletter

If you are a subrogation professional sending out demand letters and attempting to recover property damage, medical payments, or PIP benefits from a tortfeasor who is obviously at fault in an automobile collision, your worldview is one in which 50% of vehicle brakes in America are seemingly defective. It isn’t possible to go a week,…

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COLORADO SUPREME COURT DENIES DOCTOR’S EFFORTS TO REDUCE DAMAGES UNDER COLLATERAL SOURCE RULE Scholle v. Ehrichs, 2024 WL 1710169 (Colo. 2024)

Newsletter, Subrogation

An April 22, 2024 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court considered the confusing interplay between Colorado’s statutory Collateral Source Rule and medical malpractice actions under the Health Care Availability Act (HCAA).[1] Specifically, the Court addressed the question of whether the “contract exception” to the collateral source statute applies in a medical malpractice case where the…

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