The Southern California wildfires have mercilessly impacted millions of people, and have undoubtedly changed tens of thousands of lives forever.
With that in mind, we would like to take a moment to encourage our workers’ compensation community to take a minute and consider how others are doing before delving into the daily grind of depositions, hearings, and settlement negotiations. Give a little leeway to those across the aisle, because who really knows what they are going through.
Countless workers’ compensation practitioners had to evacuate in recent weeks and months, and even if their homes are intact and their families are healthy, the mental stress of this unprecedented situation takes its proverbial toll on all of us. Stories of those who lost it all but are trying to “tough it out” are unfortunately quite common, with attorneys running practices from hotels and other unusual locations.
And for those who didn’t lose their homes, it’s perfectly normal to feel survivor’s guilt, or even PTSD, when survivors witness the seemingly endless devastation around them.
So take a deep breath, and ask how your colleagues across the aisle are doing. Ask your witnesses if they were harmed. Keep an eye out for GoFundMe pages and help out your neighbors, friends, and colleagues.
The workers’ compensation system will be there tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. We can all resume contentious litigation, but we can at least be humane about it.
But let’s keep it professional folks. For every 100 people who were not affected, there are undoubtedly a few people who are navigating a nightmare of property insurance policies, child care, school, high rents, and replacement vehicles. That can and will take years to sort out, and things won’t ever be the same. For those unlucky folks, there will be days where their experiences are mostly negative. If possible, try to do those folks a positive instead.
Let’s do what we can to help those in need during these troubling times, and look to build a better future together.
Got a question about workers’ compensation defense issues? Feel free to contact John P. Kamin. Mr. Kamin is a workers’ compensation defense attorney and 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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