June

Blog Posts in June, 2018

  • SC Supreme Court Supports Insurer's Direct Suit for Attorney Malpractice

    South Carolina joins 24 other states in monumental ruling A divided South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled that an insurance company may directly pursue a legal malpractice claim against counsel retained to defend its policyholder. The decision in Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Maybank Law Firm LLC et al. , No. 27806 (S.C. May 30, 2018), changes roughly 200 years of South Carolina common law ...
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  • Washington Supreme Court Sides with Insureds on PIP Coverage

    In a decision earlier this month, the Washington Supreme Court held that state regulation prohibits insurers from denying a policyholder’s personal injury protection (PIP) coverage even if it is not necessary to achieve maximum medical improvement (MMI). Durant v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. , No. 94771-6, 2018 WL 2727997 (Wash. June 7, 2018). Background A State Farm policyholder was denied PIP ...
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  • Affidavits from Subrogation Agents on Medical Expenses allowed in Texas

    Insurance carriers come into play when determining reasonableness In a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court, Gunn v. McCoy , the Court allowed plaintiffs to file affidavits from subrogation agents for health insurance providers to prove reasonableness of medical expenses pursuant to Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code § 18.001. On appeal, the defendant contended that the plaintiff’s ...
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  • False Claims Act and the Materiality Standard

    Supreme Court Seeks Solicitor General’s Views on Certiorari for FCA Materiality Standard FCA History It comes as a surprise to many that the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 – 3733, stretches back to the Civil War. Originally enacted in 1863 to combat fraud against the Union Army by suppliers, the FCA was not changed significantly until 1986, at which point double damages were increased ...
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  • Dallas Attorney Defrauds Federal Government of Approximately $26 Million

    Workers’ Compensation Scheme targets the Department of Labor Tshombe Anderson, a Dallas-area attorney, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $26 million as restitution for a fraud scheme he ran. Anderson, along with his wife, sister, and niece, filed false claims for medical equipment with the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Program. The ...
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  • The Liability of Self-Driving Vehicles

    On March 18, 2018, an Uber autonomous vehicle struck and killed a woman crossing a dark street in Tempe, Arizona. In early May 2018, a self-driving minivan of Waymo was involved in a crash in Chandler, Arizona. The first known fatality from an autonomous vehicle came in 2016 when one of Tesla’s autonomous vehicles failed to sense a tractor-trailer crossing the highway near Williston, Florida. In ...
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