Rebecca W. Wright

Videos

• Service of process just joined the digital age, in two jurisdictions, anyway. Alaska, in 2019, and now Texas, in 2021, officially allow litigants to serve summons' via social mail, e-mail, and other electronic means. Just like everything else on the internet, though, these new service rules are not as simple as they seem. In this video, Rebecca Wright lays out the requirements for social media or electronic service, pitfalls to avoid, and how you can use these tools to serve your subrogation defendants online., Service by Social Media and Email, Insurance, Subrogation, 2021

Honors

• Corporate Counsel is excited to announce our honorees for our 2021 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards! These awards honor general counsel, in-house leaders and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law. These outstanding women will be recognized at an awards dinner on Oct. 7 as part of our Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference in Washington, D.C. These women leaders are business strategists, complex problem-solvers and, of course, great lawyers. But what particularly makes these women stand out is their personal dedication to the promotion of diversity in the legal industry. These are women championing women!, Women Influence & Power in Law Award, Corporate Counsel, 2021

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

• An article about the evolution of remote notarization of legal documents in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic., Author, The eNotary Solution: How to Get Your Documents Notarized In a Socially-Distanced World, National Association of Subrogation Professionals' Subrogator Magazine, Insurance, Subrogation, 2021
• Big trucks require big coverage – at least according to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.  To make sure that coverage protects the public in accidents involving these big trucks, the Act requires that coverage to include an MCS-90 endorsement.  What is the MCS-90 endorsement, and what does it mean for a subrogation case involving a tractor-trailer or other large or hazardous vehicle?  Join Rebecca and Steve as they discuss the MCS-90 endorsement, and how knowing what it says can help you in your negotiations of trucking cases. You can find more information on the Financial Responsibility Requirements for large or hazardous vehicles on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website, and the Form MCS-90 Endorsement here., Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, MCS-90, On Subrogation Podcast, Insurance, Subrogation, 2019
• The idea that an insurance company cannot subrogate against its own insureds seems like common sense, but is this a hard-and-fast rule?  What happens when an insurance company tries to seek reimbursement for medical expenses paid to their insured when they also insure the tortfeasor who caused those injuries? What if that insured seeks her own recovery against the tortfeasor for the same medical expenses? What if an insured’s intentional act was the cause of serious injuries or death? Does their insurance company have a right to subrogate to recover those amounts from their insured? In this installment in our series, follow Rebecca and Steve as they navigate the anti-subrogation rule and explain why insurance carriers cannot typically subrogate against their own insureds, and when such actions may be permitted. , Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Anti-Subrogation Rule: Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds You, On Subrogation Podcast, Insurance, Subrogation, 2021
• Rumor has it…there are times when the evidence you are seeking to introduce in court does not come from a witness there in court, but by someone who heard something that someone else said. If you are seeking to introduce this evidence to prove the truth of what was heard, then what you have is hearsay.  Contrary to what you may have heard, hearsay isn’t always inadmissible, and sometimes, hearsay isn’t even (technically) hearsay.  As usual, it depends – on whether the speaker is available, when and why they were speaking, and what motivated that statement. On this week’s installment, Rebecca and Steve navigate the hearsay rule, its exceptions, and the exceptions to those exceptions to provide insight on precisely when out of court statements can be deemed admissible and when a court should refuse to play telephone., Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Did You Say Hearsay?, On Subrogation Podcast, Insurance, Subrogation, 2021
• Sometimes a tortfeasor’s biggest issue isn’t your subrogation claim, it’s that his actions were more than negligent…they were criminal. If a criminal has already been convicted of the crime that caused your damages, recovery should be a simple next step, right? Not necessarily. On this week’s installment, Rebecca and Steve discuss restitution, which forces a convicted person to repay money damages caused by criminal acts. Restitution enforcement laws vary from state to state and recovery may not come as easily as one would expect. Listen in to learn how an insurer can seek restitution and recover damages ordered via restitution., Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Does Restitution = Recovery?, On Subrogation Podcast, Insurance, Subrogation, 2022
• We've all received recall notices in one way or another - through the mail, online, even via text message.  But what happens when there is a recall notice related to your subrogation case?  Can you use a recall notice to prove your products liability case? It depends... listen in as Rebecca and Steve discuss when recall notices can help your case, hurt your case, or when they just won't come in at all.  From overcoming evidentiary issues of subsequent remedial measures, to saving time and money by employing a recall notice to prove a defect, and even how the defense can use them to prove assumption of risk and contributory negligence, recall notices can and do have a real effect on subrogation claims., Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Recalls and Recall Notices, On Subrogation Podcast, Insurance, Subrogation, 2022
• You think you’ve seen in all – then you get an animal case.  Your insured is driving down the roadway and they strike a cow, horse, deer, or other animal.  These types of cases pose additional challenges for recovery.  With the right investigation and knowledge of how to analyze the unique case law of each state, recovery on these losses can be successful.  We will go over what to look for in your initial evaluation, what defenses to expect, and what curveballs you will expect to be thrown in this very unique, but common, type of loss. , Co-Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Where's the Beef?, National Association of Subrogation Professionals - Annual Conference, Insurance, Subrogation, 2020
• You have a great looking claim – the balance is good, the insured is sympathetic, and the case seems simple enough.  But all that glitters is not gold.  Join us as we dive into a products liability claim that came to us, and watch it unfold from the initial discussions, when the claim looked rosy and recoverable, through the discovery of each new fact that led to the unravelling of the potential case.  We will discuss the different factors that affect the potential value of a file, and the danger of potential exposure of the insured and the client to counter-claims and indemnity.  As we go, we will poll the audience to find that tipping point of when the room turns against the case, and determine it is time to walk away.  , Author, Speaker/Co-Presenter, Know When to Walk Away: Identifying a Good Looking File that is Less Than It Seems, National Association of Subrogation Professionals - Spring Conference, Insurance, Subrogation, 2020

Other Outstanding Achievements

• Created an e-notary program to serve clients throughout COVID shutdowns and beyond, for which we earned a Business Insurance Innovation Award in 2021., 2020

• Insurance
• Subrogation