Our family at the Law Offices of Bradford & Barthel wants to wish each and every one of you happy holidays and happy new year.
As the calendar year of 2023 comes to an end, we can look back at the last 12 months and thankfully say this year was a calmer year for the workers’ compensation system.
For instance, parties seemed to get acclimated to more in-person trials, while still running through telephonic hearings at a more expeditious rate than pre-pandemic years.
Some of this year’s unique features included:
- The Covid “emergency” being declared over by Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden in early 2023.
- Our Covid response team saw fewer overall Covid cases and outbreaks, but there were still a good number of Covid cases this year. Flu and other respiratory illnesses also appeared to make a comeback this year as Covid declined.
- There appeared to be more civility at the WCAB in 2023, which is always welcome. Perhaps all this pandemic stuff has lightened the hearts of even the most hardened litigants.
- A great number of new judges took to the bench in 2023, especially at Southern California boards. More importantly, the new judges appear to be well-qualified and off to a running start. Congratulations to all of those who are celebrating their first year on the bench!
- 2023 also brought more decisions in high-profile workers’ compensation cases than prior years. We saw big decisions from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the District Courts of Appeal, and the state Supreme Court. It’s nice to get resolution to longstanding questions that so many of us have been wondering about.
Looking forward to 2024, one has to wonder if this will be the year of omnibus workers’ compensation reforms at the state Legislature. While we at B&B are always willing to embrace change, your humble blogger is also wary of being careful about what we wish for.
So with a pleasant 2023 coming to an end, we at the Law Offices of Bradford & Barthel are thankful for all that the workers’ compensation community has given us in 2023, and we look forward to working with all of you in 2024.
We wish you the happiest of holidays and a happy new year!
Got a question about workers’ compensation defense issues? Feel free to contact John P. Kamin. Mr. Kamin is a workers’ compensation defense attorney and equity partner at Bradford & Barthel’s Woodland Hills location, where he monitors the recent legislative affairs as the firm’s Director of the Editorial Board. Mr. Kamin previously worked as a journalist for WorkCompCentral, where he reported on work-related injuries in all 50 states. Please feel free to contact John at jkamin@bradfordbarthel.com or at (818) 654-0411.
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