Spain clears way for super-judge's trial
Continuing Education
Spain's Supreme Court has removed the last potential obstacle to putting on trial the crusading judge who indicted Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden.
Judge Baltasar Garzon, who became world famous with cross-border justice cases, faces charges of knowingly overstepping his jurisdiction by launching a probe of Spanish Civil War atrocities that were covered by an amnesty. He could be suspended from his post on Friday.
The Supreme Court judge who indicted him last month, Luciano Varela, issued a ruling Wednesday that rejected an appeal by prosecutors on procedural grounds.
The prosecutors actually oppose trying Garzon. His indictment stems from a complaint that were filed by two civil groups and accepted by Varela.
An official with a judicial oversight board, the General Council of the Judiciary, said Garzon's trial might start in two to three months, or perhaps as late as September.
On Tuesday, Garzon asked for a leave of absence to accept a job offer at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
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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.