THANK YOU AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Thank you to all of our clients and friends who contributed to our Toys for Tots drives and Food drive this Holiday Season! A large barrel was filled with canned food items prior to the Thanksgiving holiday and over 600 toys collected for distribution this December. Thank you for your generosity! Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.
 
LAUGHLIN FALBO LEVY & MORESI AND RENNE SLOAN HOLZMAN SAKAI
JOIN FORCES IN AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO
WORKERS' COMPENSATION/EMPLOYMENT LAW CROSS-OVER ISSUES
In an effort to better serve the employment law needs of our clients, Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi has formed a collaborative alliance with the law firm of Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai.
Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP, The Public Law Group, has a significant employment law practice and extensive experience in representing a wide variety of clients. Like Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi, it has offices throughout California - in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.
Our collaborative alliance with Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai will provide clients with greater access to immediate counsel regarding cross-over employment issues which arise with increasing frequency during the course of workers' compensation litigation. It will improve the coordination and communication between these two fields of law, which often operate in a void, thereby facilitating the resolution of both compensation and employment issues without an unnecessary duplication of efforts or working at cross-purposes.
We at Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi and Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai believe that this innovative alliance will prove to be a valuable resource for our clients' needs. For further information regarding Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai, visit its website at www.publiclawgroup.com or contact Nikki Hall at (415) 678-3800 or nhall@publiclawgroup.com.
DEFENDANTS NOT LIABLE FOR APPLICANT'S ATTORNEY FEES
WCAB decides defendants are not liable for applicant's attorney fees when an AME is deposed!
OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING RECONSIDERATION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION
APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS CONSTITUTIONALITY OF 24-VISIT CHIROPRACTIC CAP
On June 2, 2008, the Appeals Court upheld the constitutionality of the 24 visit physical medicine cap implemented by the Legislature as part of the SB899 reforms. (Labor Code section 4604.5[d]).
In the case of Jose Facundo-Guerrero v. Nurserymens Exchange and Argonaut Insurance Co. (case: A119814, 1st District, Division 4), CAAA and various chiropractic groups argued that the statute was arbitrary and violated concepts of due process and equal protection.
Brian Egan and Kate Kroeger of the San Francisco office of Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi argued successfully that the Legislature was vested with full power to regulate medical treatment in the Workers Compensation system. In their appellate briefs, defendants argued that the intent of the Constitution was to give the Legislature the authority to regulate and, if necessary, limit medical treatment for injured workers.
The case generated a significant amount of publicity as there were no less than seven amicus briefs filed.
In its decision, the Appeals Court cited several prior cases where the Legislature limited benefits (i.e. no benefits for initial aggressor, no benefits for psyche injuries unless employed longer than six months, etc.) and found that the 24 visit “cap” was a reasonable response to the Workers Compensation crisis identified as part of the reason for the passage of SB899. The decision is signed and published and can be cited in future judicial proceedings.
RESPONDENTS ANSWER TO WRIT OF REVIEW
RESPONDENTS REPLY TO AMICUS BRIEF
APPEALS COURT OPINION ON DECISION
BENSON v. PERMANENTE MEDICAL GROUP
In an En Banc decision on December 13, 2007, the long held reasoning in Wilkinson was found to be inconsistent with the new requirement that apportionment be based on causation.
In Benson v. Permanente Medical (2007) OAK0297895, the WCAB found that the two injuries claimed by the applicant should not be combined to produce a higher level of permanent disability, and that they should be rated separately. Dianne Benson worked for Kaiser as a file clerk for over ten years when she felt pain in her neck while pulling a medical chart from a bin. The pain increased the next day and she was diagnosed with a neck strain. Dr. Joseph Izzo was selected as an AME and he opined that she had suffered both a specific injury on June 3, 2003, and a cumulative trauma through June 3, 2003. Further, he limited her to semi-sedentary work.
At the trial level, Ms. Benson was awarded 62% permanent disability. However, based upon Labor Code Sections 4663 & 4664 and the holdings in Brodie v. WCAB (2007) 72 CCC 565, the WCAB overturned this decision and rendered two separate 31% Awards. [The total PD was reduced from $67,016.25 to $49,210.00.] The Board held that "we conclude that the rule in Wilkinson is antithetical to the adoption of the new 'causation regime' in the law of apportionment. Apportionment based upon causation is generally not consistent with combined award of permanent disability" where the combining of PD is "based solely" on the P & S date.
NEW COMMISSIONER APPOINTED
Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi is extremely pleased and proud to announce that one of it's founding partners, Alfonso J. Moresi, has been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Workers Compensation Appeals Board.
His appointment by the Governor is regarded as a wise choice by members of both the applicants' and defense bar.
Mr. Moresi has over 34 years experience as a Workers Compensation defense attorney. He began his career as house counsel for Continental Insurance Co. and Employers Insurance of Wausau. In 1975, he joined the firm of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold as an associate and in 1985, when the Workers Compensation practice group split off, became one of the founding partners of the firm of Laughlin, Falbo, Levy and Moresi. His experience as a practitioner and extensive knowledge of Workers Compensation is expected to be an invaluable resource to the WCAB.
Al is continuing a tradition of Sedgwick, Detert / Laughlin Falbo appointees. Prior WCAB Commissioners hailing from the law firms include Gordon Taylor and Douglas Moore.
Although the attorneys and staff of LFLM wish Al the very best in his future endeavors, we are saddened by his leaving and he will be sorely missed.
DECISION IN WELCHER, STRONG, WILLIAMS AND LOPEZ
Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi has been instrumental in a major victory for employers in the State of California. In a published opinion dated August 31, 2006, the Third District Court of Appeals upheld the use of "Formula A" in calculating apportionment of permanent disability pursuant to Labor Code Sections 4663 and 4664. In a unamimous opinion, the Court concluded that the Legislature did not intend to alter the apportionment formula adopted by the Supreme Court in its landmark decison of Fuentes v. WCAB. The Court upheld the WCAB's decision in Nabors and specifically stated it disagreed with the opinions reached by the Fifth and First Appellate Districts in the Dykes and Nabors cases.
This decision has tremendous significance in light of the recent denial of the defense's Petition for Writ of Review by the Supreme Court in the Dykes and Nabors decisions. With clearly conflicting opinions from different districts of the Court of Appeals, it is likely that this issue will now be taken up to the Supreme Court.
Laughlin, Falbo, Levy & Moresi presented briefs and oral argument on behalf of our firm's client in the Williams case, with facts identical to those of the Dykes case.
Welcher Opinion
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