July 17, 2026 What employers, carriers, and administrators should take from the Board’s new guidance on Orders Suspending Action and what the parties must file to obtain approval of a Compromise and Release. The WCAB has issued a rare En Banc decision in the case of Calvin Gaines, et.al. v. ABME Aviation, Inc. providing new guidance on Orders Suspending Action and what the parties must file to obtain approval of a settlement agreement. Before approving a settlement, the WCJ must find the settlement adequate […]
News & Knowledge
Category: Newsletters
July 17, 2026 The California Applicant’s Attorneys Association Convention was held on January 29 through February 1, 2026, and as can be expected, the topic at the forefront of the convention was increasing applicant recoveries. While some parts of the convention provided entertainment, including the first annual “CAAA’s Got Talent”, highlighting various individuals’ outside talents, many focused on new trends and legal arguments being put forth by applicant’s attorney’s and physicians statewide to increase permanent disability findings. Attendance at the […]
July 17, 2026 The end of the employer-employee relationship marks a significant period that can result in potential problems for an employer. Among the potential issues that an employer may deal with are post-termination psychiatric cumulative trauma claims. Defining Post-Termination Psychiatric Cumulative Trauma Labor Code Section 3208.1(b) defines a cumulative trauma injury as “an injury resulting from repetitive mentally or physically traumatic activities extending over a period of time whose combined effect causes disability or the need for medical treatment.” […]
July 17, 2026 Senate Bill 555 (SB 555) has been withdrawn by its author due to insufficient support within the Assembly, after significant opposition from California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation, insurance carriers, third party administrators, and employers throughout the state. The Bill, sponsored by Senator Anna Caballero, with support from the California Applicant’s Attorneys Associate (CAAA), aimed to increase the PD rates for dates of injury occurring on January 1, 2027 and beyond to a minimum of $242.00 and a […]
March 17, 2026 2026 Forecast in California Workers’ Compensation With 2026 under way, California workers’ compensation stakeholders are entering a more restrained legislative and judicial climate as the state transitions into a midterm election cycle. The California Legislature and Governor Newsom have adjourned a session marked by heightened concern over insurer-borne costs, signaling that future Labor Code amendments may trend toward moderation rather than expansion. Nevertheless, legislative debate is expected to continue into 2026, particularly around industry-specific rebuttable presumptions and […]
March 17, 2026 When AI Hallucinates the Law: Sedano and Noland Show the Cost of Generated Legal Writing What clients need to know about AI-generated citations, sanctions exposure, and the safeguards LFLM uses to protect your files. Generative AI can speed up routine legal work, such as drafting e-mails and summarizing documents. However, when it invents quotations or cites cases that do not exist, courts are imposing real sanctions and, in some instances, referring counsel to the State Bar. Two 2025 decisions – Sedano v. […]
December 2025 Over the years, the “Going and Coming Rule” has often been defined more by its exceptions than by the rule itself. The rule states that an injury occurring off the employer’s premises during an employee’s normal commute to or from work is not compensable. However, there are many exceptions to this general rule which have developed since the rule was established by the California Supreme Court in the 1916 case of Ocean Accident and Guarantee Co. v. IAC […]
December 2025 The Division of Workers’ Compensation has announced the 2026 rate increases for the minimum and maximum rates of temporary total disability. For 2026, the minimum weekly rate will increase from $252.03 to $264.61, and the maximum will increase from $1,680.29 to $1,764.11. The minimum and maximum rates are increasing by 4.9%, which is in line with the percentage increase in the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) as mandated by Labor Code Section 4453(a)(10). This is significantly higher than […]
December 2025 Many of you are likely familiar with the existing, traditional concepts of subrogation and credit rights in California’s workers compensation system as set forth in Labor Code section 3852 et seq. It’s bad enough when an employee is unfortunate enough to sustain a significant industrial injury – but when that injury is caused by a negligent third party, it’s all the more frustrating. The silver lining in these cases involving third party defendants, of course, is that the […]
In the Trenches: A Recap of the Winter 2025 California Applicant’s Attorneys Association Convention?
July 2025 On March 27, 2025 Jonathan Liff, Partner, Sacramento and John Orman, Partner, Fresno presented intel they obtained from our adversaries while attending the four-day California Applicant’s Attorneys Association’s (CAAA) Winter 2025 Convention(Jan. 23-26) and consisting of over 20 hours of material presented by applicant’s attorneys, medical legal examiners, vocational experts and judges. The goal of the convention was to provide applicant’s attorneys with a “Roadmap to Excellence.” For the defense, attending the convention provided great insight into what […]