The Workers'
Compensation Practice Group is devoted to the exclusive representation of
employers, insurance carriers and third party administrators. While many of the
attorneys in this group have a background in civil litigation, they all focus
their practice solely on the defense of workers' compensation matters. Our
attorneys are well versed in the intricacies of this nuanced practice, and due
to their constant presence in the courts where they practice, they are well
respected by the judges before whom they regularly appear and the attorneys
against whom they compete.
Our
attorneys are involved in all aspects of workers' compensation, from the
infancy of a claim through practice in the appellate courts. We are vigorous
litigators who also recognize that litigation is not always the primary focus
of an employer's successful workers' compensation program. Significant monetary
savings can be achieved through the effective management of workers'
compensation plans and innovative return-to-work programs, and our attorneys
are on the cutting edge of case law developments to assist in the design,
implementation and continuation of such programs. We also provide risk
management services and can help reduce costs by becoming involved during the
pre-litigation phase. In addition, the work of the attorneys in the firm's
highly regarded Appellate Advocacy and Post-Trial Practice Group includes
front-line responsibility for conducting necessary legal research, writing
required briefs, and preparing and presenting oral arguments in post-trial
motions and appeals.
As
workers' compensation has become increasingly sophisticated, we have expanded
our scope of practice to support clients in areas that have become tangential
to the workers' compensation practice.
Workers'
Compensation Fraud
Fraud contributes significantly to the cost of doing business and negatively
impacts employers, insurance carriers and third party administrators. We can
facilitate the filing of a fraud claim through local government agencies and
review all cases for civil remedies to help our clients recoup some of the
monies expended due to fraudulent cases.
Unemployment
Compensation
There is increased interplay between unemployment compensation and workers'
compensation cases. We can assist our clients in assessing their need for
counsel in unemployment cases and can also answer specific questions on how to
handle unemployment cases.
Fee
Reviews
Fee reviews have become an increasingly important component of workers'
compensation cases in Pennsylvania. We have identified the problems associated
with the fee review system and developed a practice in Pennsylvania where our
attorneys are involved at the initiation of the fee review process and
aggressively represent our clients' interests through the fee review hearings.
Medical providers are able to use the fee review process to challenge the
timeliness or amount of medical payments made by the employer/carrier. Since a
provider's allegations are accepted at face value during the initial stages of
the fee review process, many unjust initial determinations are issued.
Attorneys in each of our Pennsylvania offices have extensive experience with
the issues that arise during fee reviews and have a thorough understanding of
CPT codes, appropriate levels of treatment, appropriate types of treatment, and
how to win these cases in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Federal
Black Lung
Our attorneys defend claims filed by coal miners and their surviving spouses
for benefits available under the Federal Black Lung Benefits Act. Clients
benefit from our extensive experience litigating industrial pulmonary disease
claims before the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law
Judges, Benefits Review Board and the United States Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit. In addition to defending Black Lung claims, our attorneys
leverage their knowledge and experience handling pulmonary disease litigation
to defend workers' compensation claims in which a pulmonary exposure is
alleged.
Hearing
Loss Claims
Injuries resulting from exposure to hazardous occupational noise comprise one
of the largest group of specific loss/permanency claims in the tri-state area.
In addition to becoming more commonplace, these claims have also become more
technologically complex. Each attorney assigned to hearing loss claims are
familiar with the science behind acoustical trauma, including the inner
workings of audiometric testing, leading to effective cross examination of key
witnesses. Further, our attorneys seek to expose pre-existing, non-work related
hearing loss and differentiate it from compensable loss. We are one of the
leading defense firms in protecting successor-in-interest employers that are
unexpectedly plagued with hearing loss claims stemming from employees’
hazardous noise exposure with previous employers. In Pennsylvania, we were
pioneers in the effort to change the standard of monetary award in hearing loss
cases from an all-encompassing specific loss award to that of a percentage
award based on actual work-related hearing loss. Our attorneys are also well
versed in the practical implications of a working hearing conservation program
and the benefits such a program can have on an employer’s bottom line.
Medicare Set-Asides
Our attorneys regularly advise and counsel clients in matters related to
Medicare Set-Asides. Led by James Pocius, who was actively involved in the
creation and refinement of the regulations, our group is well versed in the
workings of the federal and state liability systems as well as the workers'
compensation systems of various states. We can assist our clients with Medicare
Set-Aside allocations for workers' compensation and liability cases, Medicare
eligibility searches, Medicare submissions to the agency for approval,
conditional payment searches and revisions of Medicare Set-Aside allocations.
