Disability solutions for you and your family

Photo of attorneys Jonathan P. Gardberg and Colin Edward Kemmerly

How Mitchell v. State Farm Impacts You

by | Apr 25, 2013 | Personal Injury |

On September 21, 2012, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the 2011 decision by the Alabama Court of Appeals and announced its opinion in Ex Parte State Farm (2012 WL 4238631) by stating MedPay lienholders must abide by the Common Fund Doctrine when an attorney recovers damages from a third party. A Plaintiff’s insurance company must now pay their share of the attorney’s fees and costs when a settlement or verdict has been reached in the plaintiff’s favor.

The Court’s holding affects plaintiffs who have retained an attorney, have received payments from their MedPay carrier related to their injuries in an auto accident, and have recieved a settlement or jury verdict in their favor. When the MedPay carrier asks to be reimbursed from the settlement proceeds, an experienced personal injury attorney can now require the MedPay carrier to acecpt less than what they originally paid as a result of the Court’s holding. This change in the law can potentially keep thousands of dollars in the hands of the injured plaintiff.

Archives

Client Testimonials

Mr. Gardberg – I am forever in your debt. I will never be able to tell you how much I appreciate what you have done for me. I praise you and your firm for all they did to help me in my disability case. Thanks for being so kind.

– L. Nelson

Saying thank you is easy, but you will never know how you impacted my life by helping me with me Social Security disability case. This thank you comes right from the heart.

– R. Turner

Thank you, thank you , thank you to all of the angels in the law firm at Gardberg and Kemmerly. I sincerely hope you know how much you did to make my life better.

– D. Thompson

FindLaw Network