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Workers' Compensation Subrogation In All 50 States - 5th Edition - Hardcover
Workers' Compensation Subrogation In All 50 States - 5th Edition - Electronic
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§ 11.4 Arkansas
§ 11.4[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
Workers' compensation subrogation in Arkansas is governed
almost exclusively by § 11-9-410.1 Both the employee and the
workers' compensation carrier are allowed to prosecute a third-party
action against a third-party tortfeasor.2 These parties can bring a
third-party action at any time after liability attaches. The time limits
to bring a civil action against a third-party tortfeasor are the same as
the general civil statute of limitations for other damage lawsuits,
generally a three-year period.3 The Arkansas statute provides that a
carrier is entitled to “reasonable notice and opportunity to join in the
action.”4 In addition, no party may settle any claims under
subsections (a) and (b) of § 11-9-410 without first giving three days
written notice to all parties with an interest in the claim of their intent
to settle.5 Furthermore, all parties with an interest in this third-party
action have a duty to cooperate with all other parties in litigation or
settlement of such claims. This is good news for subrogation carriers,
and Arkansas remains one of the few states to actually codify the
employee's duty to cooperate. Section 11-9-410 provides as follows:
§ 11-9-410. Action against third party.
(a) LIABILITY UNAFFECTED.
(1)(A) The making of a claim for compensation against
any employer or carrier for the injury or death of an
employee shall not affect the right of the employee, or his
or her dependents, to make a claim or maintain an action
in court against any third party for the injury, but the
employer or the employer's carrier shall be entitled to
reasonable notice and opportunity to join in the action.
(B) If they, or either of them, join in the action, they shall
be entitled to a first lien upon two-thirds (2/3) of the net
proceeds recovered in the action that remain after the
payment of the reasonable costs of collection, for the
payment to them of the amount paid and to be paid by
them as compensation to the injured employee or his or
her dependents.
§ 11.4 Arkansas
§11.4[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
§ 11.4[2] Third Parties
§ 11.4[3] Allocation of Third-Party Recovery
§ 11.4[4] Attorneys' Fees and Costs
§ 11.4[5] Credit/Advance
§ 11.4[6] Related Subrogation Issues
§ 11.4[7] Statutes of Limitations
§ 11.4[8] Workers' Compensation in Arkansas
Gary Wickert is an insurance trial lawyer and is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on insurance subrogation. He is the author of several subrogation books and legal treatises and is a national and international speaker and lecturer on subrogation and motivational topics. Mr. Wickert is also a politician in Wisconsin, serving his fourth term as Town Supervisor in the Township of Cedarburg. After 15 years as the youngest managing partner in the history of the 30-lawyer Houston law firm of Hughes, Watters & Askanase, L.L.P., he returned to his native Wisconsin in 1998 and co-founded the firm of Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. He oversees a National Recovery Program which includes a network of nearly 300 contracted subrogation law firms in all 50 states, Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom and boasts recoveries of more than $500 million in recoveries and credits for more than 250 insurance companies. Gary Wickert is also a commercial fiction author and his latest political thriller, Dark Redemption (Tudor Publishers), is available on Amazon.com.
Licensed in both Texas and Wisconsin, Mr. Wickert is double board-certified in both personal injury law and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also nationally certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA), for whom he has both written and graded the product liability questions contained on the NBTA national certification exam taken by trial lawyers around the country. For nearly twenty-five years, he has also served as an expert witness on subrogation and insurance related issues and has been consulted by insurance carriers, lawyers, and legislative bodies from several states. He is a licensed arbitrator and has attended more than 750 mediations in more than 30 different states. He is one of only a few lawyers to have ever represented a client before the United States Supreme Court on a subrogation issue, and was named one of Law & Politics and Milwaukee Super Lawyers magazine's Super Lawyers for 2005, 2006, and 2008. For a complete resume on Gary L. Wickert, see Appendix A-13 of this book.
