The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board threatened to sanction an applicant’s attorney and a hearing representative up to $20,000 apiece for filing petitions for reconsideration with the intent to “disrupt or delay” WCAB proceedings. The board…
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The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s 60-day deadline to act on timely petitions for reconsideration is tolled when an administrative error thwarts the 60-day deadline, according to a new significant panel decision. The Appeals Board determined…
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A new bill would redefine the Labor Code’s definition of “signature” to clear up any confusion about parties’ ability to use electronic signatures on settlement documents. After the pandemic sent many work comp practitioners to…
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A traveling banker was in the course and scope of employment when she died after a night of drinking during a business trip, a California appellate court ruled in an unpublished decision. In the recent…
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Getting the right specialty of qualified medical evaluator on cumulative trauma claims is an important tool to successfully defending against them, and there are several things that claims departments can do to help get the…
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Identifying the motivation for suspicious cumulative trauma claims can help inform carriers in defending against them. California is known as the one state in the nation with a cumulative trauma doctrine. The doctrine arises from…
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The fact that the now-repealed Covid-19 presumptions did not contain a savings clause means that there are no statutory presumptions for pending Covid-19 claims, even if they have older dates of injury. A look back…
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A good batch of subpoenaed records is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. Although Forrest Gump may not have been a workers’ compensation defense attorney, one can still…
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