In Admiralty Court if state workers compensation benefits have been paid to an injured party what law does the Federal Judge follow when deciding whether or not the workers compensation carrier has a subrogation lien?... 

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Every subrogation specialist has at one time or another contacted an adverse only to be told, "Sorry, we settled with your insured and they signed a release!" This is usually quickly followed up by a fax from the adverse with a letter that they are "closing their file, see attached release." Sometimes you may be outright barred from any recovery. On the other hand, as the following article discusses, there are certain situations in which you may still be able to collect from the tortfeasor... 

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Because subrogation involves "stepping into" the shoes of another, when an insurer brings an action against a tortfeasor based upon its subrogation rights, the insurer's rights flow from the insured's rights. The subrogated insurer can be subrogated to and enforce only such rights as the insured has against the party whose wrong caused the loss. In a subrogation suit, a tortfeasor may assert against the insurer any defense that the tortfeasor could have asserted against the insured... 

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There seems to be a tendency for writers who are not historians when entering into historical areas to take liberties with accuracy that they would not take if they were recording present day facts and events. I believe this phenomenon exists because these writers are satisfied with recreating or recording historical facts directly from the writings of others without questions. There is also a lowering of standards that occurs when non-historians report history because they assume that their readers will not subject their historic material to microscopic examination. Writers in the insurance history theater sometimes publish "historic facts", which simply are not true. With each repetition of the alleged historic facts and with each higher level of authority that publish them uncorrected, they gain broader popular acceptance and become less susceptible to correction... 

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"The principle of subrogation was begotten of a union between equity and her beloved-the natural justice of placing the burden of bearing a loss where it ought to be. Being so sired this child of justice is without the form of a rigid rule of law. On the contrary it is a fluid concept depending upon the particular facts and circumstances of a given case for its applicability. To some facts subrogation will adhere-to others it will not." Home Owners' Loan Corporation v. Parker, 181 Okl. 234, 73 P. 2d 170 (1937)...

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Negligence is the most important basis for liability against another party in the United States today. The concept of negligence has been expanded considerably through the advent of product liability and warranty doctrines to a degree that product liability and warranty theories of liability hold a separate distinct identity unto themselves in the area of tort liability. On the other hand historically, negligence as a basis for liability in lawsuits by employees against employers has been curtailed through worker's compensation legislation in all states. Negligence today is continually challenged by legislatures and special interest groups who wish to place caps on damages, exempt public entities and public servants from civil responsibility, provide compensation without pointing blame as in no-fault legislation or even prohibit subrogated insurance companies from access to the civil courts...

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Under the Laws of Esthunna who predated Hammurabi, when a bailee lost a bailor's goods and there was evidence of a break-in, the bailee did not have to replace the bailor's goods so long as some of the bailee's goods were also taken by the thief. Hammurabi changed that and made the bailee responsible if he was careless whether he lost some of his own goods or not. The evolution of reasonableness in the law was a slow process...

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The industrial revolution gave birth to "workmen's compensation"- now "worker's compensation." The common law in the 1800s allowed only an injured worker, not his estate, to sue for injuries so there was no cause of action for dead employees. The employer essentially had a duty to supply a safe work place and to warn of any dangers but overall the employer was not responsible. The employee assumed the obvious risk of his job. The employer was not responsible if the employee was contributory negligent or if the injuries were caused by the negligence of a fellow employee. This type of system seemed acceptable in an agricultural society but the industrial revolution brought with it the proliferation of the wok place injury...

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Every day, fifty of the world's best subro people pass under this welcome sign at the centralized recovery unit of the Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance (Prupac) subrogation office located in an attractive business park in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Prudential Financial is a major presence in this area as many of you who have traveled the Pennsylvania turnpike from New Jersey to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania know. The Prudential Financial complex dominates the landscape as you travel the turnpike just before the Fort Washington exit. "Big" is the word that comes to mind as I walk from my car across the huge parking lot to one wrong entrance after another until I reach the main entrance. A computer check by a helpful receptionist shows that I'm in the wrong building to visit Albert S. Hall, CPCU, AIC, SCLA, AIM, FCLS, CPD (Steve) and his subrogation department. Back in the car and a two minute drive being careful to not run over some wandering Canadian geese and I'm at the right building...

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