By Mark L. Kahn (Associate Chief Judge, Retired) Arbitrator/Mediator/Attorney - Altman, Lunche & Blitstein A review of the most recent cases on the subject of discovery of witness statements leads to the conclusion that witness statements taken... Read More
At the California Workers’ Compensation Defense Attorneys’ Association 2013 Winter Conference, a panel led by the Honorable Anne Horelly, defense attorney Sharon Renzi and applicant’s attorney John Reff presented practical and procedural... Read More
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DECISIONS Rowell v. Northeast Kingdom Community Action , Opinion No. 17-11WC (July 8, 2011). Claimant is not entitled to PTD for his February 2007 back injury under the "odd lot" doctrine. Claimant's medical experts... Read More
A Connecticut court affirmed the finding of the commissioner that various medications prescribed by the plaintiff’s treating physician for a head injury that occurred some 18 years earlier were palliative rather than curative, and thus were not... Read More
When, during a deposition related to claimant’s workers’ compensation claim, a representative of the employer indicated that it had conducted no surveillance activities of the claimant, the employer was under an obligation to supplement that... Read More
By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. This story is true. The names were changed to protect the guilty. This story is a great example of what is wrong with the panel QME process under Labor Code sections 4062.1 and 4062.2. There are many cases where claims administrators... Read More
Here’s the first batch of advanced postings for September 2014 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2014 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More
By Thomas C. Fitzhugh III, Fitzhugh & Elliott, P.C., Houston, Texas The comment period for proposed new regulations for ALJ proceedings closed more than two years ago. For months we were promised that the new rules would be forthcoming “soon... Read More
In Hunter v. Oroville Elementary School , 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, a deeply divided WCAB panel denied an applicant’s petition for removal and upheld the WCJ’s order compelling a pro per applicant to attend a deposition noticed by... Read More
Attorneys cannot surprise the other side and show “information” (films or vocational reports) to the AME at cross-examination as it is an ex-parte communication in violation of Labor Code section 4062.3 because the parties must agree on what... Read More
A decision by a judge of compensation claims to exclude the deposition of a home health care nurse, based on the fact that the claimant’s attorney “was not aware” that the employer planned to offer it into evidence was improper, even... Read More
The above depicts what has evolved into the annual Workers’ Compensation Holiday Beer Swap. Not sure if Dr. John Townsend was in attendance last night, but I have it on good authority that when he participates, there is at least one case of wicked... Read More
Here’s the fourth batch of advanced postings for the February 2012 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2012 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. ... Read More
By Colleen S. Casey Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. The decision in Ogilvie v. WCAB (Ogilvie III) (2011) 76 CCC 624 created an increasing demand for the expertise of vocational rehabilitation (VR) experts. Parties... Read More
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DECISIONS Rowell v. Northeast Kingdom Community Action , Opinion No. 17-11WC (July 8, 2011). Claimant is not entitled to PTD for his February 2007 back injury under the "odd lot" doctrine. Claimant's medical... Read More