| Post by Aisha Taylor |
You may have seen my tweets on Twitter (if not follow me @AudacityEsq) But just in case, here’s a summary of the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Association (SCWCEA) Seminar.
I attended the SCWCEA One Day Seminar this past Friday entitled “Power Up.” Many of the state’s workers’ compensation practitioners were present along with claims professionals who manage claims in the state.
This year’s seminar offered a comprehensive discussion on how witness creditability impacts a workers’ compensation claim. The Commission’s perspective was presented by Commissioner Derrick Williams (formerly a member of the C&L gang). Mark T. Arden gave the Claimant’s attorney’s perspective, and O. Shayne Williams gave the defense attorney’s perspective. We also had the pleasure of hearing from Janet Woods of Robert Bosch, LLC, who gave the employer’s perspective.
The takeaway on Witness Credibility: Most false statements do not affect whether there was an injury by accident within the course of employment; however, false statements cannot be completely ignored.
We then heard from Gary Cannon, Executive Director of the SCWCC who spoke on “The Changing Face of the Commission.” Cannon offered a myriad of statistics of how claims have changed over the past 10 years. The Takeaway: Claims are down! This results in fewer hearings and settlements. This begs the question: Are claims down because there are fewer accidents or are claims down because people are not filing claims in fear of losing their jobs?
Finally, the seminar ended with “10 Topics/10 Tables/10 Minutes.” Imagine roundtable discussion meets musical chairs. We only had 10 minutes to discuss each topic at each table. Topics included average weekly wage, best practices in case management, causation, best practices in denied claims, disability, MSA’s, notice issues in repetitive trauma cases, return to work, subrogation and viewings/informal conferences. All of the round table discussions I participated in lasted longer than 10 minutes, but then again, I can talk all day!
On that note, I’ll end this with one last takeaway from reading this blog – it’s another attorney’s turn to post. Come back tomorrow to see who it will be. – Aisha
