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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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§ 11.18 Kentucky
§ 11.18[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
Workers' compensation subrogation rights in Kentucky are
controlled by K.R.S. § 342.700. This statute provides as follows:
§ 342.700. Remedies when third party is legally liable;
liability and indemnification rights of principal contractors,
intermediates, and subcontractors; requirement of waiver
of remedies for award of contract unlawful.
(1) Whenever an injury for which compensation is payable
under this chapter has been sustained under circumstances
creating in some other person than the employer a legal
liability to pay damages, the injured employee may either
claim compensation or proceed at law by civil action against
the other person to recover damages, or proceed both
against the employer for compensation and the other person
to recover damages, but he shall not collect from both. If the
injured employee elects to proceed at law by civil action
against the other person to recover damages, he shall give
due and timely notice to the employer and the special fund of
the filing of the action. If compensation is awarded under
this chapter, the employer, his or her insurance carrier, the
special fund, the uninsured employer's fund, or any of them,
having paid the compensation or having become liable
therefore, may recover in his, her, or its own name or that of
the injured employee from the other person in whom legal
liability for damages exists, not to exceed the indemnity paid
and payable to the injured employee, less the employee's
legal fees and expense. The notice of civil action shall
conform in all respects to the requirements of K.R.S.
§ 411.188(2).
(2) A principal contractor, intermediate, or subcontractor
shall be liable for compensation to any employee injured
while in the employ of any one of his or her intermediate or
subcontractors and engaged upon the subject matter of the
contract, to the same extent as the immediate employer. Any
principal, intermediate, or subcontractor who pays the
compensation may recover the amount paid from any
subordinate contractor through whom he has been rendered
liable under this section. Every claim to compensation under
this subsection shall in the first instance be presented to and
instituted against the immediate employer, but the
proceedings shall not constitute a waiver of the employee's
rights to recover compensation under this chapter from the
principal or intermediate contractor nor shall the claim be
barred by limitations if the claim is filed against the
principal or intermediate contractor within one (1) year after
a final unappealed order has been rendered by an
administrative law judge determining that immediate
employer has insufficient security to pay the full and
maximum benefits that could be determined to be due him
under this chapter. The collection of full compensation from
§ 11.18 Kentucky
§ 11.18[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
§ 11.18[2] Third Parties
§ 11.18[3] Allocation of Third-Party Recovery
§ 11.18[4] Attorneys' Fees and Costs
§ 11.18[5] Credit/Advance
§ 11.18[6] Related Subrogation Issues
§ 11.18[7] Statutes of Limitations
§ 11.18[8] Workers' Compensation in Kentucky
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.
