If the Law Says That . . .
This is the second post in an occasional series entitled “Law Gone Wrong.” The editors of the Faculty Blog invited Law School faculty to share their thoughts on misguided statutes, disastrous judicial decisions, and other examples where the law has gone wrong (and needs to be nudged back on course). Today’s contribution is from Professor Jack Kircher.
Alright, the law of subrogation is fairly simple. If one who is secondarily liable pay a debt that should have been paid by the primarily liable person, the one who pays the debt steps into the shoes of the creditor to pursue the one primarily liable. Subrogation also applies to an indemnity insurance situation. An insurer paying on its policy when its insured sustains a loss caused by a tortfeasor may pursue the tortfeasor for the amount the insurer paid. It thus becomes the alter ego of its insured, the tort victim, as to the tortfeasor. In this context both insurance and tort law concern themselves with indemnity.
A wrinkle has been added to the basic context in Wisconsin and elsewhere.