Grothe v. Kushnivich, 521 P.3d 228 (Wash. App. 2022) One by one, states have begun to recognize a vehicle owner’s third-party claim for residual diminished value damage, or “stigma damage”, which is the loss of value of an automobile that remains after it is completely and professionally repaired. It is the loss of value that…
Details
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. is pleased to announce that Stephen A. Smith has become a partner with the firm. Steve is in his 13th year of practice and joined MWL in 2015. His practice focuses on insurance litigation and subrogation, including automobile, property, and workers’ compensation, and product liability. Prior to MWL, Steve worked with…
Details
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” — Mark Twain One insurance company – State Farm – has referred to dog bites as a “serious public health problem.” In 2018 alone, one carrier paid $90 million in claims on roughly 3,500 dog bite incidents. According…
Details
4.07[10] Made Whole Doctrine Until recently, the Made Whole Doctrine had not been applied outside the context of a bankruptcy proceeding in Connecticut.[1] However, the Connecticut Supreme Court has given us a clue as to how it will treat this issue in the future. It has ruled that while a right of true contractual subrogation…
Details
A huge segment of America’s service economy involves flexible, temporary, part-time, or freelance jobs—frequently involving professional employer organizations (PEO’s) or employee leasing companies. The “gig economy” is the labor market that relies on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors, leased employees, and freelancers, rather than full-time permanent employees. Threading the needle of workers’…
Details
Amy Alexander, et al. v. Nam Duong and Sentinel Insurance Company, Case No. 120,320 (Okla. App. December 2, 2022) Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation laws have endured a long and tortured constitutional tug-of-war between trial lawyers and business advocates/subrogation professionals. In 2011, Oklahoma completely overhauled its workers’ compensation laws, entitling the new legislation the “Workers’ Compensation Code.”[1]…
Details
What you don’t know can’t help you. That is certainly the case in Iowa when plaintiff’s attorneys claim no obligation to reimburse a carrier exists based on a general assertion that the insured was not made whole. This objection overlooks the proper application of the made-whole doctrine to specific damage types as required under Iowa…
Details
Davis v. Adeoye, 2022 WL 16570653 (Conn. Super. 2022) For years, trial lawyers have been threatening and filing class action lawsuits in multiple states in an effort to thwart their arch nemesis—subrogation. States such as Montana have gone so far as to hold that it is the burden of the subrogated insurance company to determine…
Details
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. is pleased to announce the election of Richard A. Schuster, Esq. and Ashton T. Kirsch, Esq., to shareholder status in the firm. The firm is excited to welcome these two extremely talented attorneys as shareholders of our firm. They have demonstrated that they have the legal skills, dedication, and work…
Details
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. is pleased to welcome Attorney Darin G. Tabor to our California branch office. Darin began his career in the insurance industry, working with Corvel Corporation handling workers’ compensation claims. He then transitioned to the courts, fulfilling two separate clerkships for Tarrant County District Judge Melody Wilkinson in Texas and Oakland…
Details