Workers' Compensation
Voice from the Chair
February 2024
By the Honorable Presiding Judge Sharon Velzy
Chairwoman of the California Lawyers Association, Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee
It is with a sense of deep appreciation and thanks to my colleagues on the California Lawyers Association Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee that I begin my new role as the Chairwoman of this esteemed organization. Celebrating my sixth year on the Committee, I revel at the tireless efforts of each of our executive committee members and advisers who, day in and day out, volunteer their valuable time to promote the education of the bar and advance the cause of professionalism and civility for the California workers’ compensation bar.
During my one-year tenure as the Chairwoman, my vision is that each of you will join our section and encourage others in our wonderful profession to participate in the many activities that our organization, through its various subcommittees, provides to its members and the community at large. At the forefront of our work is education. The Workers’ Compensation Section will continue to offer the finest in live and virtual continuing legal education seminars presented by the most diverse group of our top jurists, scholars, and practitioners from across the State of California. Our acclaimed publications, The Quarterly Law Review, and the monthly Enews will provide the latest in reported cases, cutting-edge topics, and news for our readers. Our other subcommittees, such as the Legislation and Published Cases Subcommittees will continue their efforts at developing the robust jurisprudence of California’s workers’ compensation system. For those who wish to promote our workers’ compensation system outside of the bar, there will be several opportunities to do so brought to you by our Community Outreach subcommittee. In short, there will be something for everyone throughout the year, judges, practitioners, students, and the medical professionals who work within our system.
In September, the CLA Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee, along with all the other sections of the California Lawyers Association, held a productive and memorable annual meeting in beautiful San Diego. As part of the meeting festivities, our section held its annual awards reception recognizing the top judge, lifetime achievement, and applicant and defense attorneys of the year. Our committee was absolutely thrilled to honor as Judge of the Year, Robert T. Hjelle, Presiding Judge of the Oxnard District Office of the WCAB; William A. Herreras, as our Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient; Raymond E. Frost as the Applicant’s Attorney of the Year award and Yvonne Lang as Defense Attorney of the Year. In this issue of the Enews, we have a pictorial review of the highlights of this very special event.
In November, your Executive Committee members met in Rancho Bernardo for its annual long-range planning meeting. During this two-day meeting, the executive committee welcomed its newest members, set the agenda and goals for the organization, and began planning many of the phenomenal programs that will take place in 2024 and beyond.
Once again, I am both humbled and thrilled to have the honor of serving as Chairwoman of the California Lawyers Association Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee. I look forward with great anticipation to seeing and speaking with each of you at our upcoming events throughout the year. Wishing you much success in all your endeavors!