Workers' Compensation
Legal Issues and Defense Strategies:
Connecting the Dots: 2007 &
Beyond
Workers' Compensation Legal Issues and Defense Strategies: Connecting the Dots
July 16, 2007
Four Points by Sheraton Hyannis Resort |
Executive Summary
This is a course for non-lawyers. At this unique preconference, workers’ compensation and occupational health professionals will, for the first time, be provided with an in-depth learning experience covering the most critical aspects of workers’ compensation law, practice, and strategy. They will understand the key legal issues commonly encountered in workers’ compensation and how and why these issues affect best practices in defending workers’ compensation claims. The learning methodology is interactive and the attendees will be provided with checklists and participate in hands on exercises
.Learning Objectives
At the completion of this workshop you will learn:
• Who is and is not covered under a workers’ compensation act.
• The distinguishing nature of independent contractors and other non-covered workers.
• How to determine compensability and how to utilize this information in the defense of a claim.
• The compensability of numerous common occupational injuries, diseases, and claims.
• How causation is determined and how it should be used to defend and win cases.
• The criteria utilized to determine the nature and extent of disability.
• How to prove symptom magnification, malingering, and fraud.
• The use and abuse of surveillance.
• How to work with consultants.
• How to bring closure to cases.
• The cost-effective use of IMEs.
• Investigation of claims.
• How to win the contested workers’ compensation case.
Distinguished Faculty
Stephen Hessert, Esq.
graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and earned his JD fromthe University of Maine School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Maine Law Review. An expert in workers’ compensation and civil litigation, he frequently lectures to employers and attorneys on labor law and topics related to state and federal workers’ compensation statutes. Attorney Hessert has a special interest and experience in the trial of psychological injury and occupational disease workers’ compensation claims. He is the chairperson of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Maine State Bar Association. Attorney Hessert is a member of the steering committee of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the American Law Firm Association; the Cumberland County, Maine State and American Bar Associations; and the Defense Research and Trial Lawyers Association. Stephen is active in community affairs in Cumberland, Maine.
John W. Valente, Esq.
is a trial lawyer with the Rutland, Vermont law firm of Ryan Smith & Carbine, LTD. He received his BA from Boston College and his JD from Suffolk University School of Law. Attorney Valente has written and lectured extensively on all aspects of workers’ compensation defense. Attorney Valente is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Society for Human Resource Management and Vermont Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Committee. Attorney Valente is the author of Avoiding Workers’ Compensation Aggravation and Workers’ Compensation Practice and Procedure and Workers’ Compensation Fraud, and Understanding Workers’ Compensation, Managing Workplace Injuries and Lowering Costs.Tuition
The $395 tuition includes a continental breakfast, breaks, lunch with faculty, a detailed manual which can be retained as a bookshelf reference, and a dynamic learning experience.
Click here for registration information.
Continuing Education Information
Case Managers:
6.6 contact hours of
continuing education for Case Managers have been applied for from
the Commission for Case Manager Certification, Rolling Meadows,
Illinois.
Disability Specialists:
6.6 contact hours of
continuing education for Disability Specialists have been applied
for from the Commission for Disability Management Specialists
Commission, Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Physicians:
SEAK, Inc. is
accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical
Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
SEAK, Inc. designates this educational activity for a maximum of 7
AMA PRA Category 1™ Credits. Physicians should only claim credit
commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Occupational
Health Nurses:
6.6 60-minute hours
have been applied for through the American Association of
Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN). AAOHN is an accredited
approver of continuing education by the American Nurses
Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Rehabilitation
Counselors:
6.6 contact hours of
continuing education hours for Rehabilitation Counselors have been
applied for from the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor
Certification, Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Rehabilitation
Nurses:
This program will be accepted for
6.6 60 minute hours
of credit for ARN certification. Submit certificate.
Nurses:
To successfully
complete a program and receive contact hours you must: 1) register
in, 2) be present for the period of time you are awarded contact
hours, 3) complete the evaluation.
Scheduleclick here to view the complete schedule
Monday, July 16, 2007
7:00-8:00Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00-8:30Coverage
Attendees will learn
how to determine which workers’ compensation act applies in a case,
who exactly is covered under that act, the differences between
covered and excluded employees, the distinguishing nature of
independent contractors, domestic workers, partners, corporate
officers, directors, applicants, trainees, volunteers, casual
employees, and illegal aliens. The latest developments in coverage,
(e.g., telecommuting employees) will be discussed. Attendees will be
provided with case exercises and checklists which demonstrate how
coverage provisions in a workers’ compensation act can be used to
successfully defend cases. Questions and Answers.
8:30-9:30Compensability
Faculty will explain
the “arising out of and in the course of employment test” and how
this is applied in real cases. Attendees will learn about key issues
in determining compensability such as deviations from employment,
assaults, personal risk rule, recreational activities, intoxication,
unexplained falls and deaths, and the importance of the location
where the accident/injury occurs. Attendees will be provided with
case exercises and checklists which demonstrate how the issue of
compensability can be used to successfully defend cases.
Questions and Answers.
9:30-10:00Compensability
of Controversial Injuries, Diseases, and Claims
Faculty will review numerous specific controversial occupational
injuries, diseases, and claims including repetitive stress, back
injuries, occupational diseases, RSD, fibromyalgia, chronic pain and
stress claims. Particular emphasis will be placed on how and when
such injuries are deemed compensable and how to successfully defend
such claims. Questions and Answers.
10:00-10:15BREAK &
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
10:15-11:00Causal
Relationship
Attendees will learn
how attorneys and judges assess the standard of causation in
workers’ compensation cases. Faculty will discuss and explain the
differing standards: “cause,” “proximate cause,” “major contributing
cause,” and “signifi cant cause.” Terms of art including “reasonable
degree of medical certainty,” “aggravation,” “exacerbation,”
“pre-existing condition,” and other workers’ compensation “magic
words” will be explained. Attendees will learn the significance of
the aging process on determinations of causal relationship.
Attendees will be provided with case exercises and checklists which
demonstrate how the issue of causal relationship can be used to
successfully defend cases. Questions and Answers.
11:00-12:00Extent of
Disability
Attendees will learn
the criteria used to determine if the claimant is partially
disabled, totally disabled, has a scheduled or non-scheduled
permanent disability and how to determine if the claimant has a loss
of earning capacity. Faculty will review the role of pain, work
capacity, motivation, and secondary benefits. Attendees will learn
how the extent and nature of disability affects how the claim is
best defended. Questions and Answers.
12:00-1:00LUNCH PROVIDED
WITH FACULTY
1:00-2:00Effective Use of
Available Resources
Faculty will explain
the most
effective use of surveillance, investigation and IMEs as defense
strategies in contested workers’ compensation claims. Attendees will
be provided with practical advice and strategies. Questions and
Answers.
2:00-2:30Working with
Consultants
Attendees will learn how to cost-effectively use consultants to
achieve successful resolution of
difficult claims. Questions and Answers.
2:30-3:00Proving Symptom
Magnification, Malingering, and Fraud
Attendees will learn
how the courts have dealt with employers’ allegations of symptom
magnification, malingering, and fraud. Faculty will provide
checklists for best practices for the detection of fraud and review
the best distraction tests used to detect symptom
magnification, malingering, and fraud during independent medical
evaluations. Questions and Answers.
3:00-3:15BREAK &
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
3:15-4:30Winning the
Contested Workers' Compensation Case
Attendees will be provided with an insider’s view of why their
workers’ compensation cases are being lost or settled for excessive
amounts. Attendees will learn about selection of defense counsel,
training and experience of counsel, preparation, negotiation, volume
of work, dealing with workers’ compensation judges, indicia of
disaster, defense techniques that upset the judge, selection of
physicians and other experts, a post hearing plan, and how employers
and insurers should best monitor counsel. Questions and Answers.