The short answer, maybe. Each state has specific rules and regulations defining what is covered as an accidental injury and/or occupational disease under their workers’ compensation statutes. However, there are some general questions all employers can use to evaluate their potential liability for providing workers’ compensation benefits to those...
Insights and analysis from our attorneys
C&W Journal
March 09, 2020
CORONAVIRUS - Is it Work Related and are Employers Potentially Liable for Workers' Compensation Benefits?
March 06, 2020
CORONAVIRUS - Employers Have a "General Duty" to Act
OSHA governs health and safety regulations in the workplace. When a disease or virus has a significant impact on a global level, the World Health Organization will declare a pandemic. As an...
March 05, 2020
Coronavirus - A Recommended Employer Response
In recent weeks, we have been tasked with learning about and preparing an appropriate response for the Coronavirus –COVID-19. According to the CDC, Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that...
March 03, 2020
NJ Supreme Court Affirms Lower Courts' Decisions in Felix v....
Guerline Felix v. Brian V. Richards , New Jersey Supreme Court (Opinion Date: February 26, 2020) The New Jersey Supreme Court recently affirmed the lower courts' decisions rejecting GEICO's...
September 27, 2019
DOL Issues Final Rule on Overtime Thresholds
On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule to make 1.3 million American workers newly eligible for overtime pay. The final rule updates the earnings thresholds...
June 04, 2019
NJ PIP Reimbursement Disputes: To Arbitrate or Litigate?
The New Jersey Appellate Division recently handed down a published decision regarding NJ PIP subro claims against self-insured commercial auto tortfeasors. (The decision will also apply to PIP...
March 26, 2019
Medical Marijuana in PA Workers' Comp - More Questions than...
The legalization of marijuana for both medical use and recreational use is a hot topic in legal circles these days. There are many ramifications to both types of legalization, involving many...
February 28, 2019
Courts Crack Down on Spoliation But Reluctant to "throw the...
When a new trucking accident case is assigned to defense counsel, one of the first things to be accomplished is to ensure that all relevant evidence is accounted for and preserved. While most of...
September 11, 2018
New Jersey Governor Signs Legislation Limiting Fee Reduction for...
As many New Jersey Workers' Compensation defense practitioners are aware, the bona fide voluntary tender (or "VT") has been an effective vehicle to permit employers to offset a portion of attorney...
July 10, 2018
PA Supreme Court Interprets Section 319 of the Workers'...
The Supreme Court of PA has been very busy so far this summer with Workers' Compensation matters. Shortly on the heels of the Court's decisions in Whitfield and Pavlack , which dealt with Protz...
June 19, 2018
IREs Post-Protz - Does Timing Matter?
Decisions in two cases involving Impairment Rating Evaluations (IRE) were decided by the Commonwealth Court on June 6, 2018. The cases were Whitfield v. WCAB (Tenet Health System Hahnemann LLC)...
January 09, 2018
A Firm Can Avoid Conflicts By Making A Referral, Right?
Every lawyer has been taught that when a conflict of interest exists with a client, one solution is to make a referral to another lawyer. However, will the referral avoid a conflict of interest...
December 15, 2017
Attorneys Beware — Cybercriminals are After Your Client's Money
Remember the days of sending letters to clients and opposing counsel? Over the years, this practice has diminished and emails have become the most common type of communication. Email has become an...
August 15, 2017
The Settle and Sue Doctrine Revisited
In June 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition for allowance of appeal to consider whether it should overturn its decision in Muhammad v. Strassberger, McKenna, Messer, Shilobod ...
April 27, 2017
Dragonetti Act Held Constitutional, But Narrower Challenges Remain
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, by split decision, upheld the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's Dragonetti Act. Villani v. Seibert , 66 MAP 2016; 2017 Pa. LEXIS 939 (April 26, 2017). As a...
February 01, 2017
Why You Need to Prepare for a Cyberbreach
As a profession, we must assess and prepare ourselves for the risks of a technologically connected world in order to continue in the tradition of serving our clients and keeping their confidences....
January 17, 2017
Protecting Firm and Client Information Against Cyber Risks
Technological advances continue to expand the scope of risks that the legal profession experiences in maintaining the privacy and security of privileged client information in a secure, yet...
November 27, 2016
Judge Allows Claim for Corporate Negligence Against Physicians...
Corporate negligence claims against a physicians practice group are often pled by plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases in an effort to implicate additional insurance coverage and bring the...
November 01, 2016
Treating Physician's Medical Reports Basis for Denial of Claim...
In Myers v. Geisinger , the claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he sustained an injury on October 28, 2015. Specifically, the petition alleged that the claimant sustained an aggravation...
November 01, 2016
Subsection (e) of the MCARE Act Swallows the Rule
The MCARE Act requires experts offering standard of care testimony to practice in the same subspecialty or possess the same board-certification as the defendant physician. However, these...
November 01, 2016
Subsequently Filed Petitions to Terminate — Factors Employers Need...
In Baumann v. WCAB (Kellogg Company) , No. 2603 C.D. 2015, the claimant petitioned for review of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board's (WCAB) order affirming the WCJ's decision on remand...