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.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
Never, never, never miss a deadline to appeal! Second thoughts will get you nowhere.
In a recent SIBs case appealed by a Plaintiff workers’ compensation claimant to the Beaumont Court of Appeals, the trial court awarded the Plaintiff SIBs by way of a summary judgment. The Order was signed on April 20, 2016, and neither the workers’ compensation insurance carrier nor the claimant filed a notice of appeal within the deadline to do so. However, within 30 days of the April 20, 2016 order, the Plaintiff filed a motion asking the trial court to “clarify” the order to expressly state the money amount that he was owed in prejudgment interest. Then, in late June, the claimant asked the trial court to increase the amount of the SIBs award, and to increase the amount of the attorney’s fees that were awarded in the April 20th Order. After a hearing held the following October, the court signed an second order on October 12, 2016 granting the claimant’s new requests. While the carrier failed to appeal the April Order, it did appeal the October Order.
The Beaumont Court of Appeals issued an opinion that the April 20, 2016 Order had become final, explaining that the trial court’s jurisdiction ended 105 days after the April order was signed. Because the October Order was signed more than 105 days after the earlier April Order was signed, the trial court’s jurisdiction had expired. The result? The October Order in favor of the claimant for more money and fees was void. The Plaintiff lost out on the higher award because it was too late to fix the wording of the initial order.Texas Alliance of Energy Producers v. John Bennett, Case No. 09–16–00437–CV, 2018 WL 2246540, (Tex. App.- Beaumont May 17, 2018).