February 14, 2024 There continues to be a steady increase in subpoenas seeking claims files and human resources or personnel files from applicant’s counsel. Receiving and responding to subpoenas can be burdensome and costly, especially for long-term employees or voluminous claims files. Laughlin Falbo Levy & Moresi provides a streamlined process for subpoena response, to ensure only relevant, discoverable information is produced, as well as to protect privileged documents and information, which in turn, protects the interests of the carrier, […]
News & Knowledge
Category: Articles
August 3, 2023 The California Court of Appeal for the Second District issued a writ of mandate on August 1, 2023, ending the WCAB’s longstanding procedure of granting Petitions for Reconsideration for Further Study. Unfortunately, however, do not expect the WCAB to start issuing final decisions at a blistering pace just yet. There has been a significant uptick in the number of “grant-for-study” orders in recent years, especially since the start of the pandemic in 2020. If you have petitioned […]
August 3, 2023 A carefully crafted advocacy letter will make an impactful first impression. Often, an advocacy letter is one of the first communications between an attorney or adjuster and the medical expert. Many advocacy letters submitted to medical experts are “form letters” lacking specific details and information from a medical standpoint. As a result, medical experts are left to submit reports that do not address specific details of the claim and pertinent medical information. This leads to delays, supplemental […]
August 3, 2023 Twice a year, the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association has a conference to discuss everything from changes in Workers’ Compensation Law, to developing new strategies to increase recoveries for their clients. The 2023 Winter CAAA and Summer conferences were no exception; this year’s conferences covered a range of topics including expediting medical treatment, strategies to obtain QME panel lists in their preferred specialties, increasing permanent disability, and pursuing penalties. 1) Medical Discovery – Securing Authorization for Treating Physicians, […]
July 6, 2023 In a unanimous opinion, the California Supreme Court answered two questions posed to it by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, finding that an employer is not liable for a COVID-19 injury sustained by an employee’s household member, even if that household member contracted COVID-19 because of the employer’s negligence, and that the household member’s negligence claim is not barred by the exclusive remedy doctrine. The Court held that while the workers’ compensation exclusive remedy doctrine does […]
February 15, 2023 On September 29, 2022, updates to the Labor Code went into effect when Governor Newsom signed SB 1127 into law. Two of these updates significantly expanded benefits for safety officers, one update imposed a potentially hefty penalty for unreasonably rejected claims, and the final update related to data collection. Expanded Temporary Disability for Cancer Claims The first provision of SB1127 is a significant expansion of temporary disability benefits for safety officers, namely firefighters, peace officers, and fire […]
February 15, 2023 As COVID-19 continues to linger in California, it remains an ongoing concern for state lawmakers. In response to this ongoing threat, California continues to provide updated regulations as it pertains to COVID in the workplace. This article will cover the recent updates adopted by the State of California. Non-Emergency COVID-19 Prevention Regulations Up until present, the state has been operating under Emergency Temporary Standards as it pertains to COVID-19 Prevention Regulations. On December 15, 2022, Non-Emergency COVID-19 […]
September 6, 2022 When Labor Code Sections 4060, 4061, 4062, 4062.1 and 4062.2 were enacted, the panel Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) process was supposed to be simpler and less costly. As is often true, the legislation did not necessarily achieve its intended purpose. While the number of QMEs on a case may have diminished, the litigation has not necessarily decreased. We are seeing panel “wars” and the disputes involve much more than just preferred panel specialty. How many panels does […]
August 23, 2022 The WCAB must ground its decisions in substantial evidence. We practitioners must review medical-legal reports and any doctor’s depositions to ensure the medical record, when read as a whole, constitutes substantial evidence. If a review of the report and the entire record suggests that a judge cannot reasonably support a determination, then it is the practitioner’s role to develop and execute the strategy to remedy the issue. Preparing for a Successful Medical-Legal Evaluation A successful medical-legal evaluation […]
June 1, 2022 There have been significant changes in workers’ compensation regulations and guidelines recently that have arguably increased the value of claims. In April 2021, The California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers’ Compensation’s (DWC) new medical-legal fee schedule went into effect. The new fee schedule drastically increases medical-legal costs and may prompt defendants to consider whether early settlement may be more cost-effective. Additionally, earlier this year, version 3.5 of CMS’ Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside Reference Guide […]