Insurance Recovery Legal Associates Achieves Favorable MA Appeals Court Decision

Run, Don’t Walk To Recoveries!

Insurance Recovery Legal Associates Achieves a Favorable MA Appeals Court Decision Impacting Runoff Second Injury Fund & COLA Recovery Cases in Arrowood Indemnity Company vs. Workers Compensation Trust Fund
Insurance Recovery Legal Associates, LLC (IRLA, formerly Uehlein & Associates, LLC) recently received a favorable decision from the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Arrowood Indemnity Company vs. Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund, expanding which insurers are able to recover Second Injury Fund and COLA reimbursements from the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund. As a result of IRLA’s and appellate counsel’s efforts, insurers that are no longer transmitting assessments to the Fund are now eligible to receive recoveries. IRLA, Insurance Recovery Group, Inc.’s captive law firm, aggressively pursued this outcome for the past several years, addressing what we felt was an incorrect interpretation and application by the Trust Fund. This result is not only positive, but a major win for MA SIF and COLA WC insurers moving forward.

The Long Road to The Win
In 2015, the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund started to deny claims for Second Injury Fund and COLA reimbursement from insurers that were in runoff and therefore were no longer paying assessments to the Fund. These denials were based on an Appeals Court decision which held that insurers in runoff were not entitled to reimbursement as they were not participating in the assessment system, which was a prerequisite to recovery. Insurance Recovery Legal Associates, LLC (IRLA) brought two separate enforcement actions in Superior Court for claims not being paid, which were both denied, and the denials affirmed by the Appeals Court.

Ever persistent, IRLA once again filed a claim for enforcement at the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) in the current Arrowood case. The claim initially went through the litigation process at the DIA with the reviewing board finding, as in the earlier cases, that the insurer was not entitled to reimbursement.
Appellate counsel brought this matter to Appeals Court, and the current Appeals Court panel appreciated IRLA’s position, that since employers pay assessments, and the insurers merely transmit them to the Fund, insurers in runoff should still be eligible to participate. The result was a successful Appeals Court Decision, a major win for insurers, made possible by the efforts of IRLA.

As a leader in obtaining Second Injury Fund recoveries in Massachusetts, Insurance Recovery Group, Inc. is available to assist you in obtaining recovery on all your Second Injury Fund cases, including newly available opportunities due to this decision. Please reach out to Attorney Dorothy Linsner (dlinsner@irgfocus.com) or Attorney Arthur Gavrilles (agavrilles@irgfocus.com) if you have any questions about this decision or other Second Injury Fund and COLA needs.

Insurance Recovery Group, Inc./ Insurance Recovery Legal Associates, LLC

 

Insurance Subrogation Group’s Director Of Operations Mike Loiseau To Present on November 4, 2021 at the CLM Focus: Cannabis, Environmental, Insurance Fraud, Property, Subrogation, Claims & Litigation Management Conference

Join ISG’s Michael Loiseau, along with Andy Guerra from Envista Forensics, Dan Nucci from The Hanover Insurance Group, and Kate Strauss from Galvanize Law on Thursday November 4, 2021 from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM as they present “Failure is Not an Option, but it Happens: Avoiding the Subrogation Blindside” at the 2021 CLM Focus: Cannabis, Environmental, Insurance Fraud, Property, Subrogation, Claims & Litigation Management Conference at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Washington, DC.

Consider this – you have an ironclad claim. You’re sure of it. You’ve never felt more confident with your position. Then?  The blindside.  The bottom falls out and the claim comes crashing down around you. What happened? What went wrong, and how do you avoid the repeat? There are far too many reasons subrogation claims can fail from policy limitations, claims handler or legal representation errors, and/or expert witness failures. We’re all human, and we can (and will) all make mistakes. The difference is learning from these mistakes and having the foresight to prevent similar repeats in the future.  So, what do you do when a repeat starts brewing? Is it possible to pivot or is the worst inevitable?  When mistakes are made or a subrogation claim falls apart it may be tempting to play the blame game, but how is that effective in getting a claim back on track. For a claims team to successfully resolve any subrogation claim, it is crucial for all involved to be open, honest, and realistic with each other, keeping fundamental ethical principles in mind. But such open, honest, and candid discussion is even more imperative when a problem arises during the course of the claim.  At that point, the honeymoon is over!

Additional information can be found here: CLM Focus Conference

Shannon Warren, Esq. Selected As Speaker For NASP Webinar July 27, 2021

Shannon Warren has been selected as a speaker and will be presenting a webinar for National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP) on July 27, 2021 at 1:00 PM EST. Shannon will be co-presenting with Chad Jones of Warren Forensics. The webinar is entitled “Cooking with Subrogation – Commercial Cooking Fires: What to Look for and Who Might be Responsible”.

Using case studies, the presenters will discuss a variety of scenarios that lead to kitchen fires.  The case studies will involve scenarios that are often undetected and misunderstood due to complex code requirements and less commonly understood equipment, such as solid fueled cooking devices like pizza ovens and small broilers like cheese melters and salamanders.  Specific attention will be focused on clearance requirements to combustibles and other possible ignition scenarios that should be considered when investigating commercial kitchen fires.  Code recommended inspection and cleaning frequencies will be reviewed along with the parties responsible and documentation required for the cleaning.  The concept of long term, low temperature ignition of wood will be discussed as it relates to potential sources of ignition for fires, along with the cautions around this concept.

Tying the technical topics together will be the legal considerations including selection of parties to place on notice, preservation and spoliation of evidence, and specific litigation strategies involving these types of losses. Strategies include discovery tactics, selection of witnesses, and evidentiary considerations including expert testimony. One may register at the following link: https://www.subrogation.org/events/event-description?CalendarEventKey=b4fb5ea7-c77f-4d4a-8a68-68af4fce1684&Home=%2fevents%2fcalendar

ISG Will Be Exhibiting Virtually at RIMS 2021 April 19-30, 2021

Please join Insurance Subrogation Group at RIMS 2021. This event is taking place virtually April 19-30 and ISG will be exhibiting and attending. The virtual ISG booth will feature interactive and informative touchpoints, as well as a chat feature that will enable you to speak with ISG in real time. For more information, and to register, please visit RIMS 2021 INFORMATION.

IRG Will Be Exhibiting Virtually at NASP 2020 November 16-17, 2020

Please join Insurance Subrogation Group at NASP 2020. This event is taking place virtually November 16-17, 2020. Visit the virtual ISG booth to learn more about all of our subrogation services. The ISG booth will feature interactive and informative touchpoints, as well as a chat feature to talk live to ISG.

NASP 2020

Shannon M. Warren, Esq. Will Be Presenting At The CLM Annual Conference In Dallas, TX on 3/20/2020

Please join IRG/ISG and Shannon M. Warren, Esq. at the CLM Annual Conference in Dallas, TX (CLM INFO). On 3/20/2020 at 10:40 AM, Shannon, along with co-presenters Brian Eves of Mintzer Sarowitz Zeris Ledva & Meyers, LLP, Timothy Tresierras of ARCCA, Inc. and Gregory Vacek of Chubb, will be presenting:

Shannon M. Warren, Esq.
Shannon M. Warren, Esq.

Multiple Failures: The Difference between Science and Magic” 

Multiple failures are quite common within the practice of failure analysis, whether there are two simultaneous failure conditions culminating in catastrophic failure or a cascade of failures set forth by a primary failure. Understanding the causality of failures and the division of responsibility among multiple parties is important to the management of claims, litigation, and subrogation. Equally important is the determination of the characterization of an alleged set of failures as negligent, accidental, and/or fraudulent.

This roundtable discussion will focus on alleged multiple failures and how they may fall into one of three general categories — the possible, the plausible, and “magic.” Focus will be placed on the allegations and hypotheses that defy science and engineering with the proposition of a mystery condition or highly improbably causation, which conveniently leaves no trace within the body of supportive evidence. The roundtable will discuss how to deal with an unqualified opposing expert or a peddler of junk science and how they often build their arguments on the layman’s intuition, which sounds correct, but to the trained professional is a house of cards.

Shannon M. Warren, Esq. Will Be Presenting At the 2020 NASP Spring Conference on 4/24/2020

Please join IRG/ISG and Shannon M. Warren, Esq. at the 2020 NASP Spring Conference in Nashville, TN. On 4/24/2020 at 2:15 PM, Shannon, along with co-presenter Mark Majewski of Envista Forensics, will be presenting “Honky Tank Problems – Subrogation Opportunities Involving Fuel Tank Failures”:

Fuel tank failures can lead to environmental contamination, fires, and even explosions. Since such losses can be so catastrophic, there are complex codes and standards that regulate the manufacturing process for fuel tanks and related equipment, along with the installation and maintenance of such equipment. Case studies will be utilized to demonstrate different code requirements and various modes of tank failures. The presentation will also focus on the standards of care aspect of establishing liability, along with the statutes that govern fuel spills, clean-up responsibilities, and specific notice requirements for pursuing third parties.