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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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§ 11.35 North Dakota
§ 11.35[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
North Dakota is one of four remaining monopolistic states in the
country (the others are Ohio, Washington and Wyoming). In North
Dakota, a state organization known as Workforce Safety and
Insurance ("WSI" -- formerly known as North Dakota Workers'
Compensation)1 manages and regulates an exclusive employerfinanced,
no-fault insurance system covering workplace injuries,
illnesses and death. WSI is the sole provider and administrator of the
workers' compensation system in North Dakota. In addition to
collecting premium payments from employers and processing claims
filed by North Dakota workers, WSI promotes work place safety by
assisting employers and providing safe work environments for their
workers. The system pays medical, disability (wage replacement),
vocational rehabilitation (if medically and vocationally necessary),
impairment and death benefits as the nature of the injury requires.
General liability, health and accident insurance are not a substitute
for workers' compensation insurance. On March 9, 2005, the
legislative assembly of North Dakota amended N.D.C.C. § 65-01-09,
whereby it changed the name of the state's workers' compensation
organization from North Dakota Workers' Compensation Bureau
(NDWC) to Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI). Additionally, the
amendment creates a statutory lien which did not previously exist.2
North Dakota workers' compensation law, with limited
exceptions, requires all employers to insure their full-time, part-time,
seasonal and occasional workers. The WSI is referred to in North
Dakota legislation as the "Organization."
When a work-related injury or death is caused under
circumstances creating in "some person other than the Organization a
legal liability to pay damages in respect thereto," the injured worker
may claim compensation and proceed at law to recover damages
against such other person.3 The Organization is automatically
subrograted to the rights of the injured worker to the extent of 50%
§ 11.35 North Dakota
§ 11.35[1] Statutory Subrogation Rights
§ 11.35[2] Third Parties
§ 11.35[3] Allocation of Third-Party Recovery
§ 11.35[4] Attorneys' Fees and Costs
§ 11.35[5] Credit/Advance
§ 11.35[6] Related Subrogation Issues
§ 11.35[7] Statutes of Limitations
§ 11.35[8] Workers' Compensation in North Dakota
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.
