Workers’ Compensation Subrogation
Workers’ Compensation Subrogation
Mark Schultz is a pioneer in the area of workers’ compensation subrogation. As one of the first attorneys in the nation to pursue subrogation claims within the context of workers’ compensation, Mr. Schultz has tried over fifty subrogation cases to verdict and successfully resolved over 1,000 cases on behalf of his clients. Several of these recoveries have exceeded one million dollars.
It’s the kind of experience that enables the Schultz Law team to find innovative solutions and pathways in workers’ compensation subrogation cases others may not
What is Workers’ Compensation Subrogation?
Subrogation is an old term in the law; it basically refers to when one party takes over (or subrogates) the interests of another. It is a commonly used legal concept especially in the area of insurance.
Imagine a case where someone with insurance suffers damage due to the negligence of another. When the insurance company pays the insured, making them whole, the insured no longer has the incentive to sue the party responsible for the damages. So to help offset the claim they just paid to the insured, the insurance company can subrogate (act in the place of) the insured and pursue a case against the responsible party.
Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance, so the rules of subrogation apply. The underlying idea that led, nearly a century ago, to most states adopting modern workers’ compensation systems is that an employee should not have to prove negligence on the part of their employer in order to collect on claims when they are hurt at work. In return, employers agreed not to raise claims that the employee was, in fact, at fault. In a sense, they created a no-fault system–neither side had to show the other was at fault, just that the accident occurred and there was an injury because of it.
But even if you assume that neither the employer or the employee are at fault in a workplace injury, there could be third parties who were negligent and should be held accountable. Say an employee is hurt because a piece of equipment purchased by their employer was defective. Or a construction worker is injured at a jobsite because of the negligence of another contractor. Both the injured worker and insurer have a common interest in recovering money from the wrongdoer.
The Schultz Advantage
Mark Schultz and the Schultz Law team are leaders in helping workers’ compensation insurers–public and private–identify and pursue subrogation cases among their portfolio of cases.
Mr. Schultz started his workers’ comp subrogation practice while at Sherr, Joffe & Zuckerman. He spent five years there studying the subrogation aspects of workers comp, educating clients and developing cases. When Sherr, Joffe & Zuckerman merged with Cozen O’Connor, Mr. Schultz was chosen to head that firm’s first workers’ comp subrogation department, where he focused solely on the practice area.
He continued to lead this department for over 10 years before he left to start his own practice, Schultz Law. He has continued to find creative methods to identify and pursue third-party actions on a national basis.