Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Serving the states of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kansas and Missouri.

Constangy's workers' compensation defense practice is truly unique.  Here’s why:

• Unlike some multi-practice law firms in which workers' compensation is considered a sideline, the Constangy workers’ compensation practice group offers experienced and aggressive, dedicated workers' compensation defense counsel.  Here, workers’ compensation is all the attorneys in the practice group do.  This includes subrogation protection, second injury trust fund pursuit recovery, and exposure reduction counseling.
• Constangy is not a "workers' compensation only" firm, or an "insurance defense" firm, so clients benefit from the broad resources of an overall employment law firm.  You receive legal counsel from lawyers who understand the BIG PICTURE.  Employers have been “stung” by other counsel solely focused on the workers’ compensation issues such that they actually created exposure or failed to address intertwined employment considerations.
• Employers have ancillary concerns with workers' compensation return-to-work issues, terminations of employees who allege workers' compensation claims, ADA, FMLA, COBRA, OSHA, HIPAA and myriad other problems.  Because Constangy has represented employers in workplace legal matters for more than 60 years, attorneys here appreciate a company’s need to defend against and minimize exposure to workers' compensation claims within the full scope of the employee-employer relationship.
• Constangy workers' compensation defense attorneys come particularly prepared to help your company.  They include a former workers' compensation Judge (Georgia) and a state Self-Insurer Association President (SC) -- among other dedicated defense attorneys, paralegal specialists, and staff with many years of experience exclusively defending workers’ compensation claims. 
• Insurers provide Constangy a substantial portion of our workers' compensation defense work also.   In fact, our workers' compensation practice is approved on panels or as exceptions for most major insurers.  That’s because insurers have found that their insureds trust Constangy.  It is as simple as that.  Insurers appreciate the aggressive cost-effective manner of defending and closing claims for which Constangy is known.  We find insureds are sometimes skeptical of advice from "insurance defense lawyers" and are more receptive to advice they receive from Constangy workers’ compensation lawyers with knowledge of best practices in minimizing and avoiding exposure in workers' compensation claims.  Insurers also benefit because our experience and resources ensure agility in handling every manner of workers' compensation issue – and within the prickly time constraints insurers often face.
• Our team has successfully defended every manner of workers' compensation claim ranging from basic credibility cases to carpal tunnel or back strain cases to amputations, death and alleged permanent total/catastrophic cases. 
• Cost is always important to our clients.  Another advantage of the Constangy workers’ compensation team is the cost-effective process we have in place.  Workers’ compensation rates are competitive with other workers’ compensation practices, and Constangy resources allow for efficient and therefore cost-effective defense.  We are proud both of the conservative defense costs typical of our practice and cost savings clients receive due to aggressive defense and exposure reduction strategies.
• Constangy’s Workers’ Compensation Defense team represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including but not limited to, the following:

Healthcare

Manufacturing

Banking

Insurance

Retail and wholesale sales

PEO's and temporary employers

Public Utilities

Educational

Governments

Sports and entertainment

Food and restaurants/hotels

• We are often asked to conduct seminars for both insurance adjusters and employers.  When desired, Constangy can obtain approval for adjuster continuing education credit.  Examples of approved adjuster "courses" by Constangy include:

Top 10 Adjuster Mistakes in Georgia Workers' Compensation (1 CEU)

Top 10 Legal Defenses for Georgia Workers' Compensation (1 CEU)

Workers’ Compensation Representative Matters

Successfully defended against claim involving a claimant who reported an alleged injury "timely" and was found to have a large bulging disc on MRI to support his claim for disability. The outcome was a ruling that the claimant was impeached and discredited and therefore was unable to meet his burden to prove his case. The claimant appealed. The Appellate Division adopted the favorable defense decision of the Judge and further, at our request, assessed attorney fees against the claimant for an unreasonable appeal.

Successfully defended against claims involving multiple employer/insurers by persuading the Judge that a prior employer, if anyone, was responsible for continued treatment and disability rather than our employer client which was dismissed from the claim even though they were the most recent employer and even though time away from work did not arguably begin until after the claimant was employed with our client employer/insurer. (Also successfully defended against claims by showing convincingly that subsequent employers were responsible rather than our client employers).

Our attorneys have successfully defended all types of workers' compensation cases including catastrophic designation cases, credibility cases, complex medical causation cases, etc. as well as obtained substantial reimbursement from second injury trust funds on behalf of our clients, established and expanded light duty return to work programs and protocol, established Drug Free Workplace policies with workers' compensation premium discounts (for insured's and state assessment discounts for self-insured's), and counseled employers on best practices to avoid and defend against claims, and minimize exposure to claims which arise.

Diverse History

Even in those early years of the 1940s, Frank’s partner was Mildred McClelland, one of a very few female attorneys practicing in Atlanta. Today, Constangy, Brooks & Smith has more than 130 attorneys in thirteen states, more than half of our associates are female, and women are leaders at the highest level of our firm through representation on the Executive Committee.

Constangy, Brooks & Smith has also been recognized for its efforts to foster a diverse legal workplace. 

• The firm received the Exceptional Service Award presented by the Georgia Diversity Program of the State Bar of Georgia.
• Constangy, Brooks & Smith maintains a Diversity Council comprised of attorneys from across its offices to address issues and promote diversity within the firm.

The firm prides itself in its inclusive environment that values and utilizes the contributions of people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. The diversity of those who work for Constangy is one of its greatest strengths. Attorneys bring a variety of backgrounds to better serve a range of clients, which includes differences in geographical background, law schools, and career experience prior to practicing law, as well as religious affiliations and gender and ethnic backgrounds.

Commitment to Diversity

Constangy, Brooks & Smith recognizes that our clients and their employees, customers, and suppliers represent an ever-increasing multicultural and diverse society. Therefore, we believe that the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals with diverse backgrounds is integral to our providing the highest quality of legal services possible. Our commitment to diversity encompasses a broad spectrum of individual characteristics and experiences, including but not limited to race, gender, national origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. We recognize the benefits of a diverse work environment on firm morale, productivity, and success and believe that such diversity attracts the talented and well-rounded types of people that make our firm thrive.

All of Constangy’s policies, practices and processes benefit from having access to a range of different perspectives. Constangy takes into account these differences in its organizational structure, performance appraisal methods, recruitment and selection, and career development opportunities. Our firm recognizes that diversity makes a broader, richer environment that produces more creative thinking and solutions.

Constangy, Brooks & Smith is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the firm, from recruitment through employment and promotion, including training and work assignments, to provide equal opportunity at all times without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age or disability, or other status protected by federal or applicable state law. The firm provides an environment where all members, associates, administrators, managers and staff employees abide by the requirements of this policy so that no one associated with Constangy, Brooks & Smith is discriminated against.

Diversity Council

Constangy’s Diversity Council is comprised of a cross-section of members and associates from a variety of the firm’s offices. The Council exists to address issues of diversity within the firm, as well as within the communities where our attorneys live and work. The Diversity Council drafts and proposes programming and policy that create supportive and productive environments for diverse attorneys within our ranks, provide outreach to law schools, community and professional organizations, and encourage a culture in which differing points of view will be sought, and diversity valued. The Council also produces a semi-annual newsletter, The Diversity Connection, that details the firm’s initiatives and highlights attorneys’ involvement in outside organizations that aim to foster diversity and personal development.

Networking Groups

Networking groups provide an opportunity for individuals with similar interests to come together and discuss issues and concerns relevant to members of these groups. Constangy recognizes that unique issues sometimes affect attorneys who are women or individuals of color. To that end, Constangy actively supports networking groups for women and attorneys of color within the firm. Each networking group has an “Executive Committee Liason,” who serves as the group’s advocate before the firm’s Executive Committee, ensuring that the issues and concerns of the group are brought to the attention of the Executive Committee, and subsequently addressed by the firm.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Constangy, Brooks & Smith believes that well-rounded individuals make better attorneys who provide better service to clients. Unlike most law firms, biographical sketches presented publicly on our firm website note attorneys’ personal interests and activities outside the law firm. We encourage attorneys to be active in their communities while we strive to provide a family-friendly workplace. Based on the needs of each office, the firm’s associates and members may have the opportunity for flex-time status that permits them to work less than a full-time schedule due to family or extraordinary personal reasons. The firm recognizes the external factors affecting its attorneys such as changes in the family structure, single parent families, dual-career couples, and other community pressures. The firm’s policy providing for flex-time work arrangements enables talented attorneys to more effectively manage their personal and professional lives.

Flexible work arrangements provide attorneys who are seeking work patterns, which integrate work and family roles more fully, with an opportunity to advance their careers with the firm. An associate working under flexible time status will have his or her budgeted billable hours reduced in a corresponding percentage; will have the non-billable matters such as participation in business development, bar activities and other non-billable matters reduced correspondingly; and will be eligible for a prorated amount of salary and the annual productivity bonus available to associates.

Leave Policies

The firm’s leave policies are structured with the focus on increasing recognition and nurturing a culture that is devoted to the value of diversity and empowerment as essential elements of the firm’s success. Constangy’s leave policies provide a balanced approach that ensures both the provision of quality service to our clients and the firm’s commitment to diversity in a manner that benefits both the attorneys and the firm’s environment. Among the many benefits that Constangy, Brooks & Smith provides to associates are paid vacation benefits accrued during the calendar year based on the years of completed service; annual personal days and sick leave; and paid bereavement leave.