Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

California: SB 863 Checklist and Reference Guide
Posted on 19 Oct 2012 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

SB 863 CHECKLIST & REFERENCE GUIDE By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. © Copyright 2012 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. This SB 863 Checklist & Reference Guide is excerpted from The Lawyer’s Guide to the AMA Guides and California Workers’... Read More

SB 863: Changes Impacting the Use of Treating Physicians, Agreed Medical Examiners and Qualified Medical Examiners in California
Posted on 21 Sep 2012 by David Bryan Leonard

By David Bryan Leonard, Esq., Special to the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation Law Community Day two of the 2012 California Workers’ Compensation and Risk Conference included a panel by James Fisher, Esq., counsel for the Department of Industrial... Read More

California Workers’ Comp Case Roundup (9/2/2015)
Posted on 2 Sep 2015 by California Compensation Cases Staff

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 80 No. 8 August 2015 A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE... Read More

New Period of Cumulative Trauma Resulted in 100 Percent Permanent Disability: Cal. Comp. Cases February Advanced Postings (1/27/2015)
Posted on 28 Jan 2015 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the first batch of advanced postings for February 2015 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2015 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More

California: The Element of Surprise as an Ex Parte Communication
Posted on 22 Apr 2013 by Mark Kahn

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

California: W.C.A.B. Provides Guidance on AME/QME Request Process Timing Issues
Posted on 27 Sep 2011 by Richard M. Jacobsmeyer

If there was ever a question the medical legal process in workers’ compensation has become concerned with tactical minutia rather than dealing with substantive issues in the day to day comp practice, the W.C.A.B.’s en banc opinion in Tsegay... Read More

AME’s Opinion Failed to Support Apportionment: Cal. Comp. Cases December Advanced Postings (12/5/2012)
Posted on 5 Dec 2012 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the second batch of advanced postings for the December 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

California EAMS: Winning the Race to the Medical Unit
Posted on 4 Jan 2012 by Colleen Casey

[ Note: This article was updated on January 11, 2012, to provide the reader with more information about handling civil matters. ] Workers’ compensation practitioners enjoy a rule that is unique to the world of EAMS litigation. 8 CCR 10507 provides... Read More

California: 2004 Stipulation Regarding Future Medical Treatment Disputes Being Referred to AME Could Not Circumvent UR Procedures
Posted on 8 Aug 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

But parties not required to follow new IMR process created by SB 863 as change in law does not supersede parties’ prior stipulation In Bertrand v. County of Orange , 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, a WCAB panel, granting removal and amending... Read More

California: W.C.A.B. Limits Application of Messele Decision
Posted on 23 Nov 2011 by Richard M. Jacobsmeyer

After seeking input on its Notice of Intent to limit application of the Messele decision prospectively, and getting none, the W.C.A.B. has confirmed its decision to limit the application of its holding. The W.C.A.B. has, in a decision which issued yesterday... Read More

California: Can a Utilization Review Determination Exceed Its Appropriate Scope?
Posted on 11 Aug 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

With respect to the increasing litigation over the UR process, is Dubon really the issue in many of these UR disputes? Utilization Review (UR) has been around for more than ten years now. UR first came into play in 2003 when Governor Gray Davis passed... Read More

California: Quirky Regs and Rules Related to the Medical Legal Evaluation Process
Posted on 6 Feb 2015 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Trial calendars have been inundated lately with expedited hearings dealing with Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) and Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME) issues. As a result of the Post-SB 863 onslaught of new regs, rules and procedures, the legal community... Read More

AME’s Opinion Failed to Support Apportionment: Cal. Comp. Cases December Advanced Postings (12/5/2012)
Posted on 5 Dec 2012 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the second batch of advanced postings for the December 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