NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
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Passing of the Torch
Our founding partners, Mark Hamberger and Ronald Weiss, have served on the firm’s Governing Committee, and as Managing Partners in the Buffalo and Rochester offices respectively, since the founding of the firm in 1991. Effective January 1, 2023, Mark and Ron have decided that the time has come to pass the management responsibilities to the next generation.
Accordingly, the firm created a new Governing
Committee, and elected F. Daniel Bowers, Renée Heitger, and Joseph DeCoursey to serve on that committee, effective
January 1, 2023 to manage the firm. Dan and Joe will serve as Managing Partners
in Buffalo and Rochester respectively.
Under Mark and Ron’s 31 years of leadership, the firm has grown to become the
largest law firm dedicated solely to Workers’ Compensation defense in New York.
Mark and Ron will remain with the Firm as Special Counsel, where they will play
integral roles in the firm's continued success.
H&W Saves Client Nearly $60,000 With Fraud Finding and Permanent Bar on Indemnity
Our
associate, Victoria
Hahn, obtained a WCL §114-a (fraud) finding and secured a permanent
disqualification of the claimant's indemnity benefits for our client in a
particularly tricky claim that was
decided a few weeks ago. The claimant in this case had been out of
work since the date of accident in March 2020. Our client's investigator was
able to get some limited evidence of the claimant's work activity: a few photos
and a 10 second video from an informant showing the claimant working as a
carpenter at a job site. During testimony, the claimant alleged that he was
just "helping a friend." Unfortunately, the informant was murdered
before trial in an unrelated incident, leaving Tori without much of a case.
Undeterred, she subpoenaed the claimant's bank records, which showed large
deposits into a business account in the claimant's name, with the claimant
listed as the sole signer and authorized user. These records were critical as
they proved that the claimant was engaged in substantial work activity while
collecting workers' compensation benefits. The Law Judge felt that the video
surveillance and photographs were insufficient on their own to establish a
fraud finding. However, the Judge found that the bank records completely
discredited the claimant's testimony and that the only logical conclusion
regarding the deposits noted in the bank records were that they were for
services performed by the claimant on behalf of his business.
Given the classification with a permanent partial disability and a 33% loss of
wage earning capacity Tori's efforts saved our client nearly $60,000 in
workers' compensation payments. For any questions about this case, please
contact Tori and if you have a fraud case you would like to us to review,
please contact us.