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ERISA Recovery Litigation Against Personal Injury Counsel Allowed to Proceed

• Blog
• April 30th, 2020

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney’s motion to dismiss an ERISA plan’s action to seek reimbursement against him and his firm in McKesson v. Dillow, 2020 WL 1469461, Case No. 3:19-cv-164 (S.D. Ohio, March 25, 2020).

The facts are much like any other case in this context. Diana Dillow sustained catastrophic injuries as a result of a motor vehicle collision. She retained counsel, Douglas Brannon and the Brannon Law Firm, LLC, for her liability claim against the third party responsible for her injuries. Ms. Dillow’s counsel was successful in securing a pre-suit settlement from the tortfeasor’s carrier in the amount of $5.9 million.

Ms. Dillow was an eligible dependent under the McKesson Corporation’s health care plan (a self-funded ERISA plan) which asserted a lien for medical payments made in the amount of $2.1 million. The lien was asserted by McKesson’s recovery agent, the Rawlings Company, nearly a year prior to the case’s settlement.