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California lawmakers have advanced a bill that would require employers to allow employees to schedule medical treatment during the workday, although there are still plenty of hurdles before the bill could be signed into law….
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The “going and coming rule” is a foundational doctrine in California workers’ compensation law, defining the boundary between compensable work-related injuries and non-compensable personal risks. Under this rule, injuries sustained while an employee is commuting…
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In workers’ compensation, the best file is often a closed file. But settling a case is not always straightforward. One issue that arises when settling out future medical care, is whether the parties should address…
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The intersection of “causation of injury” and “causation of disability” in the world of psychiatric claims often stymies even the most experienced of adjusters, attorneys, and doctors. How important is this? Correctly handled, cases with…
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The Division of Workers’ Compensation has added thorough Quality Assurance Checklists for med-legal evaluators to its website that could also be useful for attorneys, hearing representatives, and other practitioners as well. A team of doctors,…
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Buddha reportedly said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” There are only a couple of problems with this. First, although I found it on the internet (so it…
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Understanding how Guardian ad Litems work is a key component to settling workers’ compensation claims where the applicant lacks the capacity to settle, for one reason or another. Most workers’ compensation cases follow a similar…
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Whether you are an attorney, hearing representative, or claims adjuster, there is no question you routinely deal with cumulative trauma (“CT”) claims. But when a CT is alleged over a long span of employment, it…
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Although the California State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct require the communication of all written settlement offers to a client, it’s safe to say that there are regulars in the workers’ compensation community who routinely…
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