Jeff Sidebottom chairs the Workers' Compensation Law Group and focuses his practice on advising clients regarding workers' compensation issues and representing clients in related litigation. When providing counsel on workers' compensation matters, he works closely with other members of the firm's Employment Law Group to provide coordinated full-service risk management advice for the benefit of the firm's clients. Jeff handles workers' compensation cases throughout Pennsylvania for clients, including self-insured employers, insurance carriers and third party administrators, as well as businesses such as hospitals, food processing companies, manufacturers and printing companies. As part of his litigation strategy, Jeff encourages clients to consider alternative dispute resolution techniques such as mediation to determine if settlement is in the best financial interest or overall interest of his clients rather than proceeding through the expensive and time-consuming process of litigation. He has been able to leverage other benefit packages that may be available to minimize potential liability for his clients' benefits and often is able to obtain a very reasonable settlement for his clients. Obviously, when mediation fails, Jeff aggressively defends cases for businesses he represents to its final conclusion. When defending employers or businesses in workers' compensation matters, Jeff believes it is absolutely essential to take a team approach in working and communicating on a regular basis with the insurer, third party administrator and representatives of the employer. During his many years representing clients in the workers' compensation field, Jeff has become very aware of the interests of employers and businesses to reduce workers' compensation costs, including litigation expenses. He has become an advocate for the interests of businesses dealing with the workers' compensation system, both at the state and local levels. To this end, Jeff serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce's Workers' Compensation Group, which provides advice to the Chamber on possible legislative initiatives affecting the workers' compensation system. He recently has been involved in negotiations on behalf of the Chamber with the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association to develop a workers' compensation litigation reform package which was recently signed into law, representing the first major reform package dealing with the Workers' Compensation Act in approximately 10 years. The new law hopefully will result in reduced litigation costs, a streamlined adjudication process, and improved timeliness and quality of workers' compensation decisions which should be a benefit to employers. In addition, Jeff has served on the editing committee for the Pennsylvania Chamber's Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Guide, a useful and informative book for businesses on how to deal with the workers' compensation system in the state. Jeff authored an article that has been very useful for employers by providing a guide for understanding and dealing with the workers' compensation litigation process and providing tips on how to increase the likelihood of a successful litigation outcome. Community Involvement · Lancaster County Foundation; member, governing board · Rotary Club of Lancaster; member · Cultural Council of Lancaster County; former president · Fulton Opera House; former president, board of trustees · North Museum; former board member · Buchanan Elementary School PTO; former president · Wheatland Junior High PTO; former president Professional Affiliations · Lancaster Bar Association (co-chair of the Workers' Compensation Practice Section) · Pennsylvania Bar Association · American Bar Association Publications & Speaking Engagements · Faculty, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's advanced workers' compensation course, "Tough Problems in Workers' Compensation Cases" · Member of editing committee for the Workers' Compensation Guide, published by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry · Seminar Speaker for programs dealing with workers' compensation issues, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Publications · Trends in Workers' Compensation Cases |