Elliott v. Hollingshead Ex Rel. Hollingshead, 327 S.W.3d 824

This is a wrongful death and survival action arising from a crash on I-20 involving Stacey Hollingshead and a truck driver; MHMR is Stacey's employer and was a party via intervention.
Stacey Hollingshead left surviving minor children Kelcey, Klayton, and Kanyon; the Longs intervened seeking recovery for their wrongful death claims; MHMR sought subrogation for workers' compensation benefits paid.
Settlement totaling $4,016,461.99 was reached; it included payments from Rosales/Intermodal/George, Flexi Van, and Hyundai and their insurers.
Initial court proceedings allocated most of the settlement to survival claims and calculated MHMR's subrogation and past-benefit reimbursement; the trial court later clarified and entered a new judgment with complex allocations.
The appellate proceeding challenged the trial court’s allocation of proceeds (MHMR subrogation impact) and the award of attorney's fees, including a proposed forfeiture of Elliott's fees for fiduciary breaches.
On appeal, the court reversed the judgment, remanding for proper allocation consistent with its opinion, and addressed issues concerning subrogation, fees, and attorney ad litem costs.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Subrogation and allocation of proceeds	MHMR contends the trial court impermissibly allocated 75% to survival, compromising its subrogation rights.	Elliott/MHMR argued the distribution should consider beneficiaries and avoid undermining subrogation.	Allocation was improper; remand to allocate proceeds consistent with subrogation rights.
Attorney fees to plaintiffs' attorneys out of MHMR recovery	MHMR argues fees awarded to plaintiffs' counsel should not come out of MHMR's subrogation recovery.	1/3 cap applies; opposing counsel's involvement should be considered in fee award.	Trial court abused discretion by awarding one-third of MHMR's recovery to opposing plaintiffs' counsel; remand for reconsideration under 417.003(c).
Forfeiture of Elliott's attorney's fees	Trial court properly forfeited $100,000 to minor plaintiffs for fiduciary breaches.	Elliott contends due process and pleadings did not support fee forfeiture; no notice.	Fee forfeiture not supported; due process and pleadings require reversal of the forfeiture; issue sustained.
Attorney ad litem fees	Fees allocated to attorney ad litem should reflect proper apportionment and not burden Elliott.	Ad litem fees were properly awardable from settlement funds.	The court declined to require Elliott to pay ad litem fees; not necessary to address further on appeal.

Tex. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ledbetter, 251 S.W.3d 31 (Tex. 2008) (subrogation rights and reimbursement mandated from net third-party recoveries)
Hernandez, 918 S.W.2d 578 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1996) (carrier's subrogation rights; cannot let non-beneficiary recover at expense of beneficiary)
Tex. Fire Ins. Co. v. Hernandez, 918 S.W.2d 576 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1996) (reaffirms subrogation principles)
U.S. Fire Ins. Co. v. Hernandez, 918 S.W.2d 576 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1996) (carrier's right to reimbursement not to be compromised)
Buckland, 882 S.W.2d 440 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1994) (active representation standard for attorney fees under subrogation)
Brandon v. Am. Sterilizer Co., 880 S.W.2d 488 (Tex. App.—Austin 1994) (attorney fees when carrier is actively represented)
Lee Lewis Constr., Inc. v. Harrison, 64 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1999) (survival damages limited to pre-death suffering; funeral expenses may be included)
Murray v. Templeton, 576 S.W.2d 138 (Tex. Ct. App.—Texarkana 1978) (wrongful death damages; pecuniary loss and maintenance)
Estate of Clifton v. S. Pac. Transp. Co., 709 S.W.2d 636 (Tex. 1986) (wrongful death damages to statutory beneficiaries)