Faculty Course Information

Online Seminar

Workers' Compensation in Pennsylvania: Critical Essentials From Both Sides of the Aisle

Sharpen Your Skills With Strategic Insight From Both Sides of the Aisle

Division
NBI (99806)
Event Date
03/03/2025
Event Time
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST
Event Planner
Lauren Burton
Email
lauren.burton@nbi-sems.com
Phone
715.835.8525

Program Description

Sharpen Your Skills With Strategic Insight From Both Sides of the Aisle

Successfully handling a workers' compensation claim requires you to understand and evaluate the issues from both sides. From initiating claims to negotiating settlements, anticipating the actions of the other side increases your chances for success. At this strategic online seminar, experienced faculty from both sides of the aisle will provide you with best practices for building a strong case and obtaining favorable results. Broaden your knowledge of workers' compensation claims and provide your clients with top-notch representation - register today!

  • Obtain the latest information you need to navigate the ins and outs of a workers' compensation claim.
  • Get a handle on key workers' compensation laws, terms, and legal concepts.
  • Understand how the workers' compensation insurance carrier decides whether to accept or deny a claim.
  • Hear a doctor's viewpoint on impairment ratings, functional capacity evaluations, and more.
  • Confidently handle workers' compensation claim denials due to pre-existing conditions.
  • Ensure you are maximizing your usage of evidence concerning injuries and the recovery process.
  • Gain essential techniques to sharpen your workers' compensation settlement negotiation skills.
  • Effectively anticipate the actions of the other side in workers' compensation hearings and appeals.

Who Should Attend

This basic level online seminar on workers' compensation claims is for:

  • Attorneys
  • In-House Counsel
  • Workers' Compensation Administrators
  • Human Resources Professionals
  • Accountants
  • Paralegals

Course Content

  1. Essential Workers' Compensation Laws, Concepts, and Legal Updates
  2. Navigating Workers' Compensation Processes, Procedures, and Forms
  3. How Doctors Evaluate Workers' Compensation Medical Issues
  4. Proving - or Disproving - the Validity of Denied Claims
  5. Essential Workers' Compensation Hearing and Appeal Tactics: Perspectives From Both Sides of the Aisle
  6. Using Evidence to Your Client's Advantage: Claimant and Respondent Strategies
  7. Mastering the Art of Settlement Negotiation
  8. Ethical Considerations

Agenda / Content Covered

All times are shown in Eastern time.
  1. Essential Workers' Compensation Laws, Concepts, and Legal Updates
    9:00 - 9:45, Bret R. Goldstein
    1. State Workers' Compensation Laws and Guidelines
      1. Who Is Eligible?
      2. Covered Injuries
      3. Available Benefits
      4. Workers' Compensation Insurance Basics
    2. Key Terms and Concepts
      1. Disability: Permanent, Temporary, Partial, and Total
      2. Impairment Ratings
      3. Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)
      4. Vocational Rehabilitation
    3. Legal Updates
  2. Navigating Workers' Compensation Processes, Procedures, and Forms
    9:45 - 10:30, Richard B. Aime
    1. Determining the Value of a Claim
    2. Claim Filing Procedures and Time Limits
    3. The Medical Evaluation Process
    4. How Insurers Evaluate Claims
    5. The Vocational Process: Common Mistakes Attorneys Make
    6. Key Forms: Avoiding Critical Mistakes
  3. How Doctors Evaluate Workers' Compensation Medical Issues
    10:45 - 11:30, Roger C. McMenamin
    1. Legal Responsibilities of Physicians
    2. Impairment Rating Guidelines
    3. Functional Capacity Evaluations
    4. Independent Medical Examinations
    5. Injury Causation
    6. How MMI Is Determined
  4. Proving - or Disproving - the Validity of Denied Claims
    11:30 - 12:15, Keld R. Wenge
    1. Key Causal Connections That Make or Break Claims
    2. Is There an Employment Relationship?
    3. Willful Misconduct
    4. Preexisting Conditions
    5. Occupational Diseases
    6. Mental- and Stress-Related Claims
    7. Horseplay Claims
    8. Travelling Employees
    9. Off-the-Clock Claims
  5. Essential Workers' Compensation Hearing and Appeal Tactics: Perspectives From Both Sides of the Aisle
    1:15 - 1:45, Keld R. Wenge
  6. Using Evidence to Your Client's Advantage: Claimant and Respondent Strategies
    1:45 - 2:30, Richard B. Aime
    1. Official Medical Records
    2. Second Medical Opinions
    3. Documentation of the Recovery Process
    4. Pre- and Post-MMI Jobs Created
    5. Accident Reports
    6. Employment Records
    7. Witness Statements
    8. Insurance Carrier Doctor Background and Competency
    9. Use of Expert Witnesses
    10. Social Media Landmines
  7. Mastering the Art of Settlement Negotiation
    2:45 - 3:30, Michael D. Schaff
    1. Determining the Right Time to Settle
    2. Lump Sum vs. Structured Settlements
    3. Negotiating Payment for Disputed Treatment Costs
    4. Future Medical Expenses
    5. Lost Wages and Lost Earning Capacity
    6. Factoring in Liens
    7. Minimizing Social Security Offsets
    8. Medicare - and Medicaid - Set-Aside Considerations
  8. Ethical Considerations
    3:30 - 4:30, Michael D. Schaff
    1. Rules of Professional Conduct
    2. Communication With Other Parties
    3. Attorneys' Fees
    4. Lawyer Liability

Materials Due Date: 01/27/2025


Materials

If you're covering any of the following topics, you must include the (identified) sample documents with your materials:

  • II. Navigating Workers' Compensation Processes, Procedures, and Forms

Attendees love forms! Even if your topics are not above - if you can think of any templates, checklists, letters, agreements, provision language, reports, or legal and tax forms that are appropriate for your topic - you are encouraged to provide them.

Event Materials Support

Email: eventmaterials@nbi-sems.com

Phone: (800) 777-8707



Richard B. Aime s an attorney at Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP, where he focuses his practice on workers' compensation. He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Gettysburg College and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Aime worked for a criminal defense attorney in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He is currently licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

Bret R. Goldstein is a partner with the firm of Reger Rizzo & Darnall LLP, in the firm's Philadelphia office. He is chair of the firm's employment practices group, concentrating in the representation of management in workers' compensation, employment and labor matters. Mr. Goldstein regularly counsels clients on a broad range of employment-related issues. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (member, Workers' Compensation Section). Mr. Goldstein earned his B.A. degree from Lafayette College and his J.D. degree from Rutgers University at Camden. Mr. Goldstein is also a certified workers’ compensation specialist in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Roger C. McMenamin is the founding partner of McMenamin & Wing, LLC. With more than 25 years of experience in workers' compensation law, he has done and seen it all, allowing him to handle even the most complicated of cases. Mr. McMenamin is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Montgomery County Bar Association, and Workers' Compensation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association; and has been selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® for workers' compensation recently. He earned his bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College and his J.D. degree from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law. Mr. McMenamin is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania.

Michael D. Schaff is a founding partner in the Philadelphia firm of Schaff & Young, P.C. His firm represents insurance companies and/or employers in claims brought under the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act, New Jersey Workers' Compensation Act, and Longshore and Harborworkers' Compensation Act. Mr. Schaff has served as a Workers' Compensation Judge for the D.C. Department of Employment Services in Washington D.C. where he conducted formal hearings and rendered decisions on claims brought under the D.C. Workers' Compensation Act. In addition to his defense of the insured and self-insured employers, he also represents uninsured employers. Mr. Schaff is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He earned his undergraduate degree from Muhlenberg College and his J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Keld R. Wenge is a partner at Pond Lehocky, LLP. He focuses his practice on representing injured claimants in workers' compensation matters. Mr. Wenge is certified as a workers' compensation law specialist by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wenge serves as a committee member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and is a certified arbitrator for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He earned his undergraduate degree in business from the University of Maryland, College Park, and his J.D. degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.

Accreditation

Email: credit@nbi-sems.com

Phone: (866) 240-1890

Customer Service

Email: customerservice@nbi-sems.com

Phone: (800) 930-6182

Event Materials Support

Email: eventmaterials@nbi-sems.com

Phone: (800) 777-8707


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