2020 Spring Education Conference

Don’t be caught by surprise! Have you had a case where you were certain you would win your case only to have the Board find you did not have substantial evidence? Worse yet, then you have to explain to your client why the Board is ordering additional medical reports. Get it right the first time and you’ll impress your client with your skills! This program will provide a step by step guide to the Board’s power on substantial evidence and development of the record. Learn how to identify whether a report is substantial evidence on several commonly litigated issues including compensability, permanent disability, and apportionment. After this training you may not be a clairvoyant, but you’ll come real close!

Walnut Creek and Newport Beach Speakers:

• Randy Pollak, Managing Attorney Pacific Compensation
• Alan Riffel, Rose, Klein & Marias

Effective 1/1/20, the WCAB has instituted a major overhaul of its practice rules. There were substantial changes enacted in those reforms and if you are practicing Workers’ Compensation Law in this state, knowing what was changed, and how it impacts you, is essential to competently representing your clients before the WCAB. Take charge of your practice skills by attending this 1 hour presentation. Panelists will offer valuable instruction and insights into the most significant changes that every workers’ compensation practitioner needs to know.

Walnut Creek Speakers:

• Commissioner Jose Razo
• Commissioner Craig Snellings

Newport Beach Speakers:

• Presiding Judge Robert Rassp, Los Angeles District Office
• Randy Pollak, Managing Attorney Pacific Compensation

Over the last several years there have been a plethora of cases by the WCAB applying the Kite decision, which is the case that paved the way for the adding of permanent disability ratings instead of using the Combined Values Chart (CVC). Through those decisions the WCAB has clarified the parameters for when it is appropriate to add vs. use the CVC and the results can be very significant. For example, a non-life pension case can become a life pension case. Or a below 100% case can result in a 100% award. In this 1 hour presentation, the workers’ compensation practitioner will be updated on this essential area of the law and will be well prepared to navigate settlement, discovery and trial effectively for their clients.

Walnut Creek and Newport Beach Speakers:

• Dr. Osep Armagan, M.D. (Newport Beach only)
• Monica Fairwell, Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton, & Goldstein, LLP
• Erin Wintersteen, Managing Partner Michael Sullivan & Assoc.

Networking lunch.

Learn or re-learn the 1, 2, 3 of how to properly impeach a witness. Learn the ins and outs of rehabilitating an impeached witness. It’s been a while since mock impeachments in law school. Have you impeached anyone lately? Do you remember how? You may not be doing it right. Get back to the basics and join us for a panel discussion on how to properly impeach and rehabilitate witnesses. Hear it from the defense perspective and the applicant perspective. More importantly, what does the judge think?

Walnut Creek Speakers:

• Judge Therese Da Silva, Oakland District Office
• Janet Zamecki, Law offices of Janet Zamecki
• Viviana Santiago, Ratto Law Firm

Newport Beach Speakers:

• Presiding Judge Jamie Spitzer, Anaheim District Office
• Janet Zamecki, Law offices of Janet Zamecki
• Viviana Santiago, Ratto Law Firm

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of Rolda? If you thought of a quirky 70’s sitcom starring Valerie Harper, you owe it to yourself to come to the CLA Workers’ Compensation Spring Conference. The panelist will discuss psychiatric injuries involving good faith personnel actions, predominant cause, and what evidence needs to be provided. Brian Jacks, M.D. (one of the original reporters in the Rolda case), Judge Alicia Hawthorne and Senior Deputy County Counsel Alec Beyer will present a step-by-step guide to getting psychiatric reports Rolda compliant. The presentation will be a unique blend of analysis of this frequently complex issue from the differing perspectives of an evaluating physician, a WCJ, and a day-to-day practitioner. The analysis will include a historical perspective of the issue as well as the medical-legal issues as seen by both physicians and lawyers.

Walnut Creek and Newport Beach Speakers:

• Dr. Brian P. Jacks, M.D.
• Judge Alicia Hawthorne (San Diego District Office)
• Alec Beyer, Office of County Counsel, San Diego

Even before the applicant is seen by the PQME, a lot can be litigated about the PQME. This presentation addresses the most frequent issues that arise before the PQME evaluation, including how the WCAB addresses disputes about the medical specialty, timing of the PQME request, cancellation of the PQME evaluation, replacement panels and timeliness of the reports, and more. Knowing how these common issues are handled by the WCAB will allow the workers’ compensation practitioner to identify disputes that are worthwhile to litigate vs. ones that may just be a “dead end.”

Walnut Creek Speaker:

• Amy Shen, Boxer and Gerson
• James Cotter, Associate Partner, Mullen & Filippi

Newport Beach Speaker:

• John Hernandez, Law office of John Hernandez
• Jamie Ann Louie, Louie Stettler