Court Appoints Lawyer for Bernard Kilpatrick
Headline Legal News
It's the ongoing public corruption investigation that's led to charges against numerous city officials, including former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. It now appears his father could soon be at federal court, as well.
"The case looks like it's at a point where decisions have to be made both by the prosecutors and by Mr. Kilpatrick," said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor.
This time that Mr. Kilpatrick is Bernard Kilpatrick, the father of the disgraced former mayor.
Kwame Kilpatrick is already facing charges related to raiding the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, but now his father has asked for a federal defender - a sure sign he's in trouble, too.
"A target letter is often viewed as an invitation to someone to make contact with the government and explore the possibility of resolving the case," Henning said.
He said it's not clear what the charges would be against the elder Kilpatrick, who is long suspected of orchestrating pay-to-play deals involving city contracts. However, whatever money he might have made appears to be gone. Bernard Kilpatrick had to sign an affidavit of indigency to qualify for a court appointed attorney.
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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.