Workers’ Compensation

With 2020 half gone, it’s time for my annual mid-year look at the most significant events in California workers’ comp to date. Read more

On July 30, 2020, our Community Outreach Subcommittee led by Chairperson, Tiffany Boyland, will be presenting a seminar entitled Workers’ Compensation 101 to the Alameda County Bar Association. Joining Chairperson Boyland will be the Honorable Workers’ Compensation Judge Katie Boriolo... Read more

While the world grapples with the sudden and far-reaching impacts of COVID-19, the effects of its spread have been felt across all businesses and communities. As our government struggles to stem the spread of the disease, we have been forced to adapt to a rapidly changing social and legal landscape, which can lead to uncertainty regarding legal obligations to employees. Read more

The majority of all active attorneys practicing law in California must complete 25 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) every three years. The fundamental goal of the Education Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the California Lawyers Association is to provide exceptional educational programs and materials to the members of the State Bar and the public at low or no cost. Read more

As our nation marks its 224th birthday this month, we find ourselves grappling, both on a personal as well as a societal level, with challenges that have not been seen during most of our lifetimes. Read more

We are all, I believe, feeling pain and hurt. We started 2020 feeling relatively optimistic and hopeful for a good and successful year. Instead, we are experiencing the limitations of our preparedness and of the structure of our society and legal system as it existed before COVID, and before the George Floyd killing. While we are all disturbed by the social unrest taking place across the nation, we are, I believe finally at a point of forced introspection, self-evaluation, and… Read more

By Elizabeth Furlow, Esq. Hartsuyker, Stratman & Williams-Abrego, San Francisco; Chair, Technology, Social Media and Website Subcommittee The goal of the Technology, Social Media and Website subcommittee is to recognize changes in technology relevant to the practice of Workers' Compensation Law, provide practical resources for our members about emerging technology tips that are foundational for today's legal market, and connect and communicate with our members on multiple technology platforms. This article provides several examples of those resources and instructions on… Read more

By Randy H. Pollak, Esq[1] 15 years after implementation of SB 899 and its “new regime” of apportionment law, one of the hottest litigated issues in workers’ compensation remains the scope of valid apportionment.  Case in point, on May 27, 2020, the Sixth district Court of Appeal published a major apportionment decision in County of Santa Clara v. WCAB (Justice), 2020 Cal. App. LEXIS 461.  What is immediately important for the workers’ compensation practitioner is the Justice decision’s dramatic limitation… Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board have recently issued several more emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a reference to our readers, we provide links to those directives as we did in the most recent editions of the Enews: DWC and WCAB Continue to Expand Hearing Schedule at the District Offices (May 28, 2020) DWC, WCAB Update Forms to Identify Injuries Related to COVID-19 (May 22, 2020) Read more

CalChamber Podcast on COVID-19 and Governor Newsom’s Executive Order On May 22, 2020, Tiffany Boyland, our CLA Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee Vice Chair and Community Outreach subcommittee Chair, participated in a podcast for the California Chamber of Commerce, “COVID-19 and the Workers’ Comp Order Explained.” In this episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber Executive Vice President and General Counsel Erika Frank, and Tiffany Boyland discuss Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order that created a rebuttable presumption for workers claiming to… Read more