Workers’ Comp eNews

By Therese DaSilva, Workers’ Compensation Judge, Oakland District Office of the WCAB Judge William E. Gunn is the presiding judge of the DWC Special Adjudication Unit (SAU) which has its headquarters at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) in Van Nuys.  In 2014, Judge Gunn started his tenure as a workers’ compensation judge at the Fresno WCAB.  Before coming to the Fresno Board, Judge Gunn worked as defense counsel for over a decade.  Before becoming a defense attorney, he worked… Read more

On February 24, 2021, Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles District Office of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and past Chair and current advisor to the Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee was joined by Randy Pollak Read more

On February 21, 2021, WC section executive committee members Judge Sharon Velzy and Saro Kerkonian participated in Southwestern University School of Law’s “Succeeding In Law” diversity event. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has received notification from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) that the final version of the proposed Medical-Legal Fee Schedule (MLFS) was forwarded on March 30, 2021 to the office of the Secretary of State for filing and printing. Read more

Analysis of Two Important WCAB Decisions by Kenneth Kingdon, Member of the CLA, Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee In this article, Kenneth Kingdon analyzes two recent WCAB decisions interpreting the Kite decision: Martinez and Conrad Martinez v. State of California, Department of Corrections 2020 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 51 Issues Adding versus combining nonoverlapping ratings Effect of overlap/duplication Pyramiding Disposition The WCAB reversed the WCJ and held that in order to add rather than combine ratings, it is not… Read more

After a year of pandemic-related shutdowns, California’s gradual reopening has been carrying gargantuan implications for the state’s workers’ compensation stakeholders. Read more

Are you planning on taking the legal specialization exam this year? Are you new to workers’ compensation and looking for a comprehensive review of workers’ compensation law? Or if you just want to brush up on some of the fundamental principles of Workers’ Compensation, you should sign up for Workers’ Compensation Boot Camp 2021. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation has proven again that it is one of the busiest court systems in the state. Since the onset of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020, the court has never closed Read more

The saga continues. We are still in the Covid-19 world. Like a story that goes on for too long it is wearing on all of us and all of our institutions. Our system continues to do the best it can to deal with the challenges we and our clients face in these strange times. Nearly 600,000 Americans have died. Businesses have taken a severe toll as have employees. We are all very tired of the isolation and stressors brought about by this continuing situation. Read more

Did you know that as a member of the California Lawyers Association, Workers’ Compensation Section your annual membership dues includes a subscription to one of the fastest growing online research tools—Fastcase? It’s true! Read more