Hedrick Gardner is pleased to announce that one of our attorneys and two practice groups are ranked in the 2024 edition of Chambers USA, a highly regarded legal industry guide. Patricia Shields is ranked in Litigation: General Commercial in North Carolina. A highly experienced trial and appellate attorney, Tricia’s practice focuses on civil litigation. She […]
The North Carolina Industrial Commission has released updated instructions for employers, carriers, and third party administrators completing the IC File Number Field when filing documents electronically. This new protocol streamlines the filing process, allowing documents to be submitted even without an assigned IC file number. The Industrial Commission has advised that Employers/Carriers/TPAs/Counsel should now: The […]
The North Carolina Supreme Court has long recognized that an employee’s injury caused by their own negligence act, cannot, in itself, bar their workers’ compensation claim. This principle is outlined in Hartley v. N.C. Prison Department, 258 N.C. 287, 128 S.E.2d 598 (1962). In that case, Mr. Hartley, a prison guard, was on his way […]
Excluding Expert Exchanges: Protecting Attorney-Expert Communications Recently, the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to add a protection that is already recognized by federal courts: the Attorney-Expert protection. The newly added Rule 26(b)(4)(D) of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, which is short-titled, “Trial-Preparation Protection for Communications Between a Party’s Attorney and […]
On Friday March 22, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a favorable decision for the defense in Kluttz-Ellison v. Noah’s Playloft Preschool, No. 173PA22 (N.C. 2024). Lindsay Wikle and Duane Jones from Hedrick Gardner represented Defendants. The Supreme Court provided a test to determine whether requested medical treatment is “directly related” to the original compensable injury, […]
Hedrick Gardner Partner Rob Wilson and Associate Tatiana Terry obtained summary judgment for the owner of an apartment complex in a premises liability case. The case involved a thorough analysis of the recent decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Draughon v. Evening Star Holiness Church of Dunn, 374 N.C. 479, 487, 843 S.E.2d 72, […]
During the recent Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) Winter Meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, Partner, Luke Sbarra, moderated a two-day presentation on February 26th and 27th focusing on the benefits and practical and ethical issues of using a courtesy defense to represent former employees in litigation against your client. Industry and attorney members […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding the existing Section 111 reporting process to capture information on all workers’ compensation claims involving Medicare beneficiaries that receive a settlement (i.e., TPOC) and funding for a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA), regardless of whether the workers’ compensation settlement was reported to CMS under the […]
By Allen C. Smith, Brooks P. Miller, Julianna Grant, and Austin R. Walsh On September 22, 2023, Senate Bill 452, An Act to Make Various Changes to the Insurance Laws of North Carolina, to Amend the Insurance Rate-Making Laws, and To Revise High School Interscholastic Athletics, was presented to Governor Roy Cooper for signature. Because […]
The SMART Act requires CMS to annually review the costs associated with the collection of Medicare conditional payments and set forth a threshold amount applicable to settlements, judgements, awards, or other payments (TPOC amount) for which it will not seek recovery. The threshold amount for 2023 was $750.00. On February 14, 2024, CMS announced the […]
