September 17, 2025
This article was written with the assistance of AI and edited by Angela Sabarese.
In a recent CLM webinar, titled, “Top 10 Subrogation Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them),” Ashton Kirsch, a shareholder with Wickert & Lehrer, S.C., and Simon Keshishian, vice president of risk management and counsel at Red Bull, discussed the top 10 mistakes insurance carriers make in subrogation cases. The session focused primarily on workers' compensation subrogation, though the principles apply across various insurance lines, according to the panelists.
Top Mistakes
The conversation centered on several critical themes, beginning with the fundamental error of delayed legal involvement. Kirsch emphasized that carriers too often rely on plaintiff's attorneys to protect their interests, having asked an audience of adjusters: "Raise your hand if you trust plaintiff's attorneys. And not one person raised their hand. I said, how does that make sense? Right? You're not bringing in your own independent counsel. You're trusting plaintiff's attorneys to protect you."
A major theme was the importance of immediate, thorough investigation. Using a case study where a plastic battery cap from a commercial vehicle caused severe injuries, Kirsch demonstrated how quick action led to a seven-figure recovery. He stressed that "work comp subrogation is not what they say where we send a template letter every few months. No. We're taking direct action. We're hiring experts when we need to. We're making sure we're taking an active role in pursuing these cases how we need to do so."
A Corporate Perspective
Keshishian provided practical insights from the corporate perspective, noting that strategic investment in subrogation sometimes exceeds immediate recovery but serves broader purposes. "Red Bull is not as big as a lot of the big insurance companies, but sometimes I will spend money and sometimes it will exceed the recovery... Bigger carriers do this by design because they want to send a message to the street and there's global implications."
The webinar underscored that successful subrogation requires specialized expertise, proactive investigation, and strategic thinking rather than passive reliance on template approaches.