Former bar presidents support Servaas
Bar Associations
Judge Steven Servaas, under pressure to resign his seat on the District Court bench, is getting support from fellow lawyers.
A letter signed by 12 former Grand Rapids Bar Association presidents supports Servaas in his fight with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
In the letter, the former bar presidents say, "Regardless of the reason that the judicial tenure commission has undertaken to attack Judge Servaas, it has seemingly done so in a reckless manner."
The lawyers ask the commission to reconsider the issue.
He's also moved back into a house he owns within his district, a key element in the commission's attempt to oust him. Servaas owns two homes, both in the 63rd District, but only one is in his division of the district.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.