For some time a split has existed in the Circuits regarding the ability of an ERISA Plan to reach assets that are not in the “control and possession” of the plan participant. Eight of the thirteen circuits have expressed opinions on the presented questions, with the majority (6 to 2) finding that the ERISA plan…

This is a case wherein a plaintiff, while recovering from hip replacement surgery, was dropped during a bed transfer at the rehabilitation facility.  The plaintiff engaged counsel and was able to secure a settlement in the amount of $140,000.00.  The plaintiffs’ medical care had been provided by a self-funded ERISA Plan who wanted full repayment…

Bloomberg Business’s article by David Armstrong “The Lawyer Who Invented a Way to Take Cash From Accident Victims” identifies a formidable foe of injured clients. This article tells the tale of how a Kentucky lawyer, George Rawlings of The Rawlings Group, began his multi-million dollar career on the coat-tails of plaintiff’s trial bar and off…

Repaying Medicare for conditional payments is a necessary but unpleasant process which can result in a greatly reduced net recovery or no recovery at all for an injured Medicare beneficiary.  The Medicare Secondary Payer Statute has a repayment formula that is designed to maximize the return of funds to Medicare and provides no consideration for…