A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Doctor. I shared a nostalgic conversation last week with a similarly-aged J.D. about our early days of law practice. More than...
Tourist Medicine May Be Coming to a Comp Claim Near You Tourist Medicine May Be Coming to a Comp Claim Near YouA California appellate court found a state trial court committed error when it granted summary judgment to an employer in an employment discrimination case filed by a former employee based...
California: Use of Preprinted C & R Form Does Not Waive Claims Outside Workers’ Comp Context California: Use of Preprinted C & R Form Does Not Waive Claims Outside Workers’ Comp ContextWhere a worker’s compensation insurance policy contained a clause in which the carrier waived its right to recover from any third party sued by the injured employee, that clause also...
Texas Insurer Barred from Going After Third-Party Settlement Proceeds Texas Insurer Barred from Going After Third-Party Settlement ProceedsHigh Court Says BWC Has Subrogation Interest in Spite of Denial of Claim In a decision that should impact settlement procedures in virtually all personal injury cases within the state...
Ohio Auto Insurers: Beware of Nascent Workers Comp Claims Ohio Auto Insurers: Beware of Nascent Workers Comp ClaimsIn a split decision, a Mississippi appellate court reversed an order of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that had granted an employer’s motion to reopen and vacate a prior order...
Death of Mississippi Worker Does Not Negate Settlement Agreement Death of Mississippi Worker Does Not Negate Settlement AgreementCharacterizing the language of a workers’ compensation settlement agreement that included a provision for a Medicare set-aside annuity (MSA) as “sloppy” and “imprecise” and quoting novelist Vladimir Nabokov’s advice to...
What A Difference a Word Makes: Illinois Court Remands Case Because Settlement Agreement Ambiguous What A Difference a Word Makes: Illinois Court Remands Case Because Settlement Agreement AmbiguousEach year I read–or at least scan–more than 1,500 workers’ compensation cases that make the appellate reporter system around the nation. As large as that number sounds, it’s really fewer...
Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims? Compromise and Settlement: May An Employer Include a Penalty Clause to Ward Off Further Vexatious Claims?An employer, who mailed a $17,000 settlement check to the address erroneously designated by the claimant in a Compromise & Release Agreement (C&R) settling claimant’s workers’ compensation case, is still...
Employer Gets Lesson in Law of Negotiable Instruments–It Remains Liable When Claimant’s Settlement Check is Misdelivered and Forged Employer Gets Lesson in Law of Negotiable Instruments–It Remains Liable When Claimant’s Settlement Check is Misdelivered and Forged