Mayor Addresses Philadelphia Bar Association
Legal Events
Philadelphia - Mayor Michael Nutter proved that he could work a room - even a huge one with hundreds of lawyers - at yesterday's Bar Association Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon in the Park Hyatt Hotel's grand ballroom.
The mayor's first address to the 13,000-member association, the oldest bar association in the country, was laced with humor although the mayor insisted that he's not a very good joke teller - he often forgets the punch line. But, he noted, he has impressive skills in sarcastic comebacks.
In a roomful of dignitaries, including Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham and the Honorable Ronald D. Castille, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the mayor admitted that it was still "quite embarrassing" to listen to laudatory introductions of himself. "I hope soon we can just go with 'He's here!'"
Mayor Nutter acknowledged the awarding of the Bar Association's iconic golden snuff box, its highest honor, to the former Chancellor of the Bar Association, Jane Dalton, whose remarks preceded his. Ms. Dalton spoke of the strides the organization has made over the last year, including the retention and promotion of women attorneys.
Mr. Nutter, who promised no lawyer jokes and stuck to that promise, then addressed some vital issues affecting the city and its law community in his 30 minute remarks.
"Historically, lawyers have played a central role in government, and will hopefully continue to. Your pro bono efforts are critically important and you've handled diversity issues impressively."
The mayor also outlined his determination to change the public's mindset about city government, emphasizing that in some ways, the city is actually a $4 billion corporation with citizens as stockholders who, in his words, "...have the right to expect high quality services and the lowest possible cost."
The mayor's commitment to increase the population of Philadelphia by 75,000 people over the next five years would, he suggested yesterday, inure to the benefit of lawyers as well as other professionals and businesses in the city.
One of the comments that drew loud applause was Mayor Nutter's promise that in his sweeping ethical reforms, the days of "...who you are or who you are connected to are over."
One special plea to the legal community came with the mayor's urging of law firms to help lower the criminal recidivism rate in the city, which is currently a sobering 72 percent, by making efforts to give those who have struggled a break by hiring them. The same urging to the city's legal community concerned reaching out to young people who need mentors and models.
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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.