A Partner at Boxer & Gerson LLP, Julius Young has practiced worker’s compensation law and social security disability law since 1979. He has represented thousands of individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses while on the job. In every case, his goal is to secure the medical treatments his clients need.
2014 is half done. What were the most significant events/themes in California workers’ comp in the first half of 2014? Here, in no particular order, are my top picks: 1. CONTROVERSY OVER UTILIZATION REVIEW AND INDEPENDENT MEDICAL REVIEW CONTINUES Utilization review and independent medical review continued to generate controversy during the first half of 2014. […]
If you’ve followed the blog before, you know that workerscompzone 1.0 was a fixture on the California workers’ comp scene for about seven years. During that time the blog repeatedly won awards as one of the top blogs on workers’ comp and developed a following among some policymakers, workers’ comp judges, think tank consultants, lawyers, […]
Workers’ comp is not a sexy topic. Writing a blog on a subject so specific and detailed as California workers’ compensation tends to focus on what’s wrong and what needs to be done to fix it. And despite wave after wave of well intentioned reform, problems continue to pile up with the system. It seems […]
Over the last week there has been some controversy brewing about whether the DWC was illegally or unethically interfering in the IMR process. This controversy came to light after a memo surfaced from a workers’ compensation judge who attended a recent training for judges conducted by the DWC in San Francisco. Since I was not […]
The long-awaited Valdez decision is finally here. In a November 2013 decision, the California Supreme Court handed a victory to injured workers in that it rejects the notion that California statutes only allow reports of network MPN doctors into evidence in benefit disputes. That was essentially the position of the California Workers Compensation Appeals Board, […]
One of the key components of the 2012 California workers’ comp reforms now appears to be on shaky ground. Challenged by a group of medical, chiropractic, interpreter and copy service plaintiffs, the SB 863 lien activation fee may soon be a goner. The issue was repeatedly argued this week in front of U.S. District Judge […]
Marty Morgenstern is leaving. Since 2011 Morgenstern served as Governor Brown’s Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Morgenstern had deep ties to many figures in California’s labor movement and to some in the labor think tanks at UC. Though he was essentially a figurehead and for the most part not deeply involved […]