Subro on the Go

In this episode of Subro on the Go, regular co-hosts, David Brisco (San Diego) and Joe Rich (Miami) are joined by Jerry Nolan, Co-Director of National Subrogation Services (“NSS”), to discuss and celebrate NSS's 25th Anniversary. The co-hosts and Jerry discuss the history of NSS, how the industry has changed and what NSS sees on the horizon for the subrogation industry. And, as with the latest series of episodes, the trivia questions are back and focused on pop-culture from the year 2000. Take a listen and think about your own subrogation journey over the last few decades and how things have changed and where we're headed. Happy Anniversary NSS and here's to another 25 years!!!

It's that time of year again and you've got to get your holiday movie queue in your streaming services ready to go for the next month. As subrogation professionals, we might love holiday movies, but we do not necessarily enjoy them the same way as everyone else. Our subrogation instincts often kick in when watching holiday flicks filled with injuries, accidents, fires and all sorts of property damage events. And we cannot help but wonder if we could recover in those situations. In this episode, hosts David Brisco (San Diego) and Joe Rich (Miami) are joined by Dana Meyers (San Diego) and Phil Carroll (Utah) to discuss holiday movies that could make great subrogation cases. In addition, this episode dares to delve into the holiday debate of whether “Die Hard” is or is not a holiday movie, along with multiple holiday themed trivia questions. Get your Egg Nogg ready, grab a few holiday cookies, curl up with a warm blanket, and take a listen to this holiday themed episode of Subro on the Go. Happy Holidays to All Subrogation Professionals!

Location, location, location! The viability of a subrogation case will vary depending on the loss location. The combination of law and fact in one state can yield subrogation potential, whereas in another that mix can be detrimental. Each State has varying rules that impact subrogation potential, including statutes of limitations, comparative fault rules, and requirements for pursuing products claims. It therefore becomes critical to know the state specific rules as you evaluate the recovery prospect of a loss. In this latest episode of our State Specific Series, regular co-hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Kansas subrogation attorney Cheri MacArthur to discuss the unique losses seen in Kansas, the applicable Statutes of Limitation and Repose, and comparative fault rules and their impact on subrogation cases in Kansas. And of course, the fan favorite State Specific Trivia Series continues as we test our attorneys' knowledge of Kansas, the alleged town of Smallville, and the Kansas Twine-a-Thon Festival.

The viability of a subrogation case will vary depending on the loss location and the facts. The combination of law and fact in one state can yield subrogation potential, whereas in another that mix can be detrimental. Each of the States have varying rules that impact subrogation potential, including statutes of limitations, comparative fault, and requirements for pursuing products claims. It therefore becomes critical to know the state specific rules as you evaluate the recovery prospects of a loss. In this latest episode of our State Specific Series, regular co-hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Louisiana subrogation attorney Jake Skaggs to discuss the unique history of the legal system in Louisiana and to discuss common losses, the “new” Statute of Limitations, comparative fault rules and some insights into pursuing products liability claims. As we will be doing throughout this series, we will also test our attorneys' knowledge of Louisiana by weaving in state specific trivia.

Subrogation professionals who handle losses in multiple states know that the viability of a subrogation case will vary depending on the loss location. The facts of a particular incident may have subrogation potential in one state, but not in another, as each state has varying rules that impact subrogation potential, including statutes of repose, comparative fault, and malfunction theory. As a result, it is imperative that a subrogation professional understands the state specific rules in which the loss occurred. In this first episode of our State Specific Series, regular co-hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Utah subrogation attorneys Kris Cherevas and Phil Carroll to discuss common losses that occur in Utah as well as the unique Utah laws as it pertains to evaluating subrogation potential. We will also test our attorneys' knowledge of The Beehive State by weaving in state specific trivia.

Happy New Year to all of our fellow subrogation friends! Many of us use the start of the New Year to create personal New Year's Resolutions. These resolutions are not limited to our personal lives. In this episode of Subro on the Go, regular co-hosts David Brisco and Joe Rich are joined by subrogation attorneys Dana Meyers and Michael O'Donnell to discuss Subrogation New Year's Resolutions. The team discusses organizational tips for your subrogation caseload, how to prioritize certain in-litigation cases, how to get traction on cases that you were unable to resolve the prior year, and much more. We hope that these tips helps you to accomplish all of your New Year goals.

It's that time of the year again! As the MLB World Series is underway, subrogation professionals are also gearing up for their own playoff run to reach their year-end goals, getting ready for end of the year mediations and looking to resolve those lingering pre-litigation cases with outstanding demands. In this episode, co-hosts Joe Rich (Miami) and David Brisco (San Diego) are joined by Howard Maycon (LA) and Cheri MacArthur (Denver) to discuss ways to maximize your chances of recoveries in the 4th quarter. The panel discusses ways to expedite settlements achieved at mediation, create triggers for getting paid on time, and thinking ahead about logistical issues and avoiding common payment hurdles to speed up the recovery process. The panel also explores advanced planning that may be needed when dealing with settlements involving foreign manufacturers and public entities. Good luck and happy hunting to all recovery professionals as we close out the year.

What is the day to day practice of subrogation going to look like in 5-6 years, or better yet, 5-6 months? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hitting the world by storm, with all industries working to determine the role AI will play. For the subrogation industry, technology has played an ever-increasing role over the last decade. Remote communication applications, predictive analytics and bots running tasks have been used in the subrogation industry for some time. And like the introduction of those tools, language model AI applications have the potential to assist subrogators of all levels. In this episode, co-hosts, David Brisco and Joe Rich, discuss the potential AI has for the subrogation industry as well as the pros and cons of embracing these tools in everyday pursuit of recoveries.

In the first quarter of 2023, the Florida Legislature made three major changes to the Statute of Limitations for negligence claims, comparative fault rules in negligence cases, and the Statute of Repose for improvements to real property. In this episode, David Brisco (San Diego) interviews his regular co-host, Joe Rich (Miami), and the Chair of the Firm's Southeast Subrogation Region, Joshua Goodman (Miami), about these changes and the practical implications for subrogation professionals and their recovery partners. Of significance, the new rules shorten the statute of limitations and statute of repose time periods, making this a must listen for all subrogation professionals with cases in Florida who are looking to protect their subrogation claims.

Subrogation involving horses? Yes, this is a real thing. In this episode, regular co-hosts, David Brisco (San Diego) and Joe Rich (Miami), are joined by their partner, Suzanne Radcliff (Dallas), who provides an overview of this niche area of subrogation to listeners. In addition to some bad horse jokes from the co-hosts, Suzanne, who is a former competitive Equestrian with both personal and professional experience in the area of equine law, outlines for listeners some of the challenges and issues a recovery professional will have to navigate when looking into recovery opportunities in this area. Suzanne shares her thoughts on investigations, working with experts and the unique damages issues when pursuing these types of recovery claims. Saddle up for another great podcast!

Do not let your subro claim blow up in your face! Subro professionals who have handled large explosion fires know firsthand that large explosion cases are complex, with significant hurdles to fully process. In this episode of Subro on the Go, regular co-hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by their colleague Jake Skaggs, an experienced litigator of subrogation explosion cases. Skaggs provides key insights into the unique process of investigating large industrial explosion cases, including the types of experts needed, the requisite investigation philosophy, the early intelligence that must be gathered, and the role of subrogation counsel in managing these complex scenes.

Whether it is a turkey fryer that causes an unexpected cooking fire, or mishaps with trees and decorations that make the holidays literally go up in smoke, holiday related losses are common for subrogation professionals this time of year. So while it is the season to be joyful and hum along with the Beach Boys' Little Saint Nick, it is also the season for unusual loss scenarios that require creative approaches. In this episode of Subro on the Go, regular co-hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by their colleague Dana Meyers to discuss holiday loss scenarios and ways to evaluate recovery potential or avoid investing in nonviable claims. Happy Holidays from Cozen O'Connor and NSS.

In our current episode, co-host, Joe Rich, speaks with some of our Canadian Litigators about the differences in pursuing subrogation claims in Canada versus the U.S. Joe is joined by Pamela Pengelley, Office Managing Counsel of our Firm's Toronto Office, and David Huard, Office Managing Counsel for our Quebec Office, to discuss topics such as how subrogation rights arise in Canadian property losses, who controls the recovery effort, made whole issues, the pace of litigation, and some key differences among Canadian Provinces. Pamela and David have extensive experience handling subrogation claims in various Canadian Provinces and their discussion with Joe provides a great overview of the unique aspects of subrogating in Canada.

Time is money in the subrogation industry. And knowing the timeframes of when you can pursue recovery claims is an important first step in evaluating your case, including determining the scope of your early investigation. Whether you can or cannot bring a claim due to a pre-determined timeframe set by a specific statute is often the most critical first question to be considered in a subrogation case. Both sets of statutes, limitations and repose, address timeframes for filing lawsuits, but they operate differently and have unique considerations for recovery professionals. In this episode, regular hosts David Brisco (San Diego) and Joe Rich (Miami) are joined by Phil Berens (LA) to discuss the differences between Statutes of Limitations and Statutes of Repose and some key considerations to keep in mind when evaluating these timeframes.

In the latest episode, co-hosts, David Brisco and Joe Rich, are joined by Dan D'Imperio, Co-Director of National Subrogation Services, to discuss the role of Predictive Analytics in the subrogation industry. Like in Back to the Future when Doc. Brown shows up at the end of the movie with a revamped flying DeLorean, the subrogation industry no longer needs to use traditional roads to review a high volume of files and can use predictive analytics to fly through and score the recovery potential of files. Dan has extensive experience integrating NSS's SubroSpeed predictive analytics platform with clients and discusses in this episode the overall architecture of predictive analytics, data mining, scoring files and how NSS has been using its SubroSpeed platform to leverage better and faster recoveries for clients.

It's been two years since COVID-19 not only radically changed our daily lives but altered how recovery professionals approach litigating claims. Yes, two years have passed! In the first few months of the pandemic, courts, litigators and recovery professionals quickly adapted to use readily available remote tools like Zoom, Teams and other platforms to keep cases going, hold hearings, participate in mediations and proceed with depositions. In this latest episode of Cozen O'Connor's Subro on the Go podcast, our regular co-hosts, David Brisco and Joe Rich, are joined by their longtime colleagues Joshua Goodman and Tony Morrone for a look back at the impact of remote litigation tools over the course of the pandemic and what role these remote tools may continue to play going forward as courts and communities start to fully reopen.

Have you ever had a subro attorney tell you that you should file your case in state court versus federal court, or vice versa, and wondered, what's the difference? Why would I want to be in one court versus another? In this episode of Cozen O'Connor's Subro on the Go podcast, David Brisco is joined by a panel of subro attorneys, Gil Hernandez, Erick Kirker, and Virginia Markovich, to discuss how certain cases end up in federal court and the key differences between litigating subro cases in federal versus state courts.

COGSA, Carmack, Allisons, and Himalaya Clause. These terms may not mean much for a traditional property subrogation professional, but if you are going to diversify into the world of ocean marine and inland marine subro, then these are a few of the many terms you will need to become familiar with. In this episode of Cozen O'Connor's Subro on the Go podcast, hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by attorney Rob Phelan to talk about a new trending kids toy and the various losses (and subrogation issues) that can occur during the shipment of this product from overseas to the port and on to the final destination.

Every subrogation case is, at its heart, a story about a loss event. As subrogation professionals, we endeavor to tell a story of the loss event and resulting damages in the most effective way possible, using photos and videos as our tools to explain liability and damages issues. Ultimately, we use our story as a way to persuade an opponent, mediator or jury that we are owed a recovery. In this podcast, Joe Rich, Dave Brisco, Ginny Markovich and Jeremy Jones from Cozen O'Connor's Subrogation & Recovery Department discuss the importance of photos and videos in subrogation cases, highlighting their usefulness in both liability and damages presentations, methods for taking photos and videos, cutting edge 3D rendering technology, and available social media and other third party sources for photos and videos.

Smart smoke detectors, vehicle data on key fobs, and geofencing are just a few of the new internet of things technologies emerging today. Subrogation professionals need to be aware of this ever-growing industry, including what new sources of data it provides to the subro investigation and what new types of claims may arise. In this episode of Cozen O'Connor's Subro on the Go podcast, hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Dana Meyers to discuss the internet of things and subrogation – where we've been since first doing this presentation almost 10 years ago, where we are with IoT products relating to subrogation, and where we're going as we look to the future of IoT and our industry.

Government tort claims come in a variety of shapes and sizes – broken city water main floods, bridge collapses, dam failures, government vehicles crashing into your insured's building, etc. And just as the types of losses vary, so do the requirements regarding both placing the government entity on notice and tort cap on your recovery. In this episode, Cozen O'Connor Subro on the Go hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Dan Luccaro to discuss general rules of thumb regarding being certain your claim is not barred for failing to provide timely required notice or timely file suit after a denial of claim, as well as various tort caps on your recovery for certain states.

Do you have a subro question that you are anxious to ask? Then welcome to Subro Mailbag. In this episode, Cozen O'Connor Subro on the Go hosts David Brisco and Joe Rich read and answer questions from our podcast listeners on a variety of subro topics. How do you describe subrogation to friends and family? How do you deal with a defense that will not pay on a clear liability case? These and many more questions are answered in this fun and informative episode.

Will any expert do? Choosing the right expert is one of the most important decisions to be made in a subrogation investigation. Asking the question of whether an expert is required for your claim is easy; answering the question requires thinking about several complex factors. In this episode, Cozen O'Connor subrogation attorneys David Brisco, Joe Rich and Suzanne Radcliff discuss key considerations for selecting experts and some rules of the road for managing forensic investigations. Today's podcast discusses how to evaluate the appropriate expert discipline required for different types of claims and lines of business, with a focus on general v. specific subject matter experts, jurisdictional considerations, and compliance with Daubert and other applicable standards.

Wildfires continue to be national front-page news, be it the destruction caused by the fires themselves or the litigation that lasts for years after the fire has been suppressed. In the latest “Subro on the Go” podcast episode, hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco are joined by Howard Maycon, lead counsel for the subrogation industry in almost all of the major California wildfires, to discuss one aspect of wildfire cases – the early investigation stage. Part of the early investigation involves gathering all available data to aid in narrowing the general area of fire origin as part of the overall process in trying to determine its cause. This includes, for example, the significant amount of witness and social media photo and video data available and how the images themselves and corresponding metadata are utilized to help prove the cause of a wildfire.

While politicians may be more interested in whether a state is a Blue State or Red State, subrogation professionals want to know if a state is what we refer to as a “Good State or Bad State” based on its comparative fault laws. Are you a Bad State where a certain level of fault of your insured will entirely bar your subrogation claim? Or are you a Good State where your subrogation claim is simply reduced by the portion of your insured's comparative fault, but is not barred. In this podcast, Cozen O'Connor subrogation attorneys Joe Rich, David Brisco, and Jake Skaggs discuss the differences between the comparative fault rules in the Good States and Bad States, as well as those states in between these extremes.

One of the marks of a successful subrogation professional is knowing that line between a case being a closer versus having recovery potential. In this episode of Subro on the Go, David Brisco, Kris Cherevas, and Dana Meyers discuss challenging claims case examples and the important rules and guidelines that help subro specialists determine if a case has recovery potential.

The cause of plumbing component losses is not always readily apparent during an initial investigation. In this episode of Subro on the Go, Joe Rich, Cheri MacArthur and Phil Carroll discuss the ABCs of how plastic and brass plumbing products fail from materials defects and fabrication issues and the key failure types to keep in mind during your investigation of these sometimes hidden failures.

In the world of subrogation, agreeing on the amount of a settlement is only half the battle. In this episode of Subro on the Go, hosts Joe Rich and David Brisco discuss the various settlement snags that arise at the settlement agreement stage of a subrogation case and how to resolve them.