EMPLOYMENT LAW

Books

Falaris, Evangelos, Charles R. Link, and Michael E. Staten. Causes of Litigation in Workers’ Compensation. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1995.

While the authors are not lawyers, they do an excellent job spelling out the characteristics of employers and injured workers that affect the probability of workers’ compensation litigation. They discuss societal costs of litigation versus other administrative processes. In fact, they constructed a theoretical model exploring the cost and benefits of workers’ compensation litigation and its effect upon the parties’ levels of volatility. Why do they do this? They are economists, of course. Focusing specifically on Delaware and Michigan law because those states have been most litigious, the authors research case samples and identify certain factors within that would influence whether a case will be contested or settled. They also study what factors determine the size of indemnity payments to injured workers in settled versus litigated cases. In short, workers’ compensation lawyers may find this helpful in analyzing whether litigation is worth pursuing on their client’s behalf.

Lencsis, Peter M. Workers Compensation: A Reference and Guide. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1998.

This work simplifies the many realms of workers compensation laws. From state, to territorial, and to federal, this book pieces together the varied, nonuniform workers compensation laws in terms of which kinds of employments are covered and with regard to the dollar amounts of wage loss benefits that are payable for the kinds and degrees of worker disability. Both human resource and legal professionals would benefit from this book as it describes the self-insurance vehicles a business can employ to pre-fund workers compensation liabilities. Furthermore, this book aids in distinguishing whether an injured person is an employee or merely an independent contractor who is not protected under workers compensation statutes. Peter M. Lencsis is a highly-qualified private practice attorney in New York City who has worked previously with New York Insurance Company and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. He begins with the history behind workers compensation laws and finishes with current trends and issues in workers compensation.

McFarren, Todd and Glen J. Grossman, eds. Workplace Injury Litigation. Tuscon, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company, Inc., 2004.

Todd McFarren and Glen Grossman are lawyers who specialize in workers compensation laws. Therefore, lawyers out there who handle and litigate workers compensation claims must consult this practical guide to the practice and procedure of the workers compensation world. But there’s more! This text analyzes cases based on types of injuries, from work-related heart attacks to psychiatric injury. The text also provides procedural guidance into cross-examination techniques and how to depose medical doctors. A greater concern is the bankrupt and uninsured employer – what do you do when facing that scenario?! This text holds your hand throughout that employer’s bankruptcy proceedings when representing both injured workers and illegally uninsured employers. Finally, this text explores the greatest fear of all practicing lawyers: ethical and administrative issues in the workers compensation context. Lawyers cannot be too informed, and this text can only take you a step in the right direction.

Sellers, Christopher C. Hazards of the Job: From Industrial Disease to Environmental Health Science. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

This book tells many stories about the history of the American worker and the corporation. Specifically, this book is a source for the origins of corporate industry and the impact of industrial chemicals on workers over time. Thus, lawyers may find this source helpful for gathering evidence and narrowly searches for expert witnesses. Furthermore, the author lists his notes in the back of the book as well as his sources for further reading.

Tramposh, Anne. Avoiding the Cracks: A Guide to the Workers’ Compensation System. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1991.

In the workers’ compensation field, this book aims to do what the idiom in the title says. It assists injured employees, employers, and medical and legal professionals in keeping workers’ cases from falling through the cracks and ending in negative resolution. Folks may believe that workers’ compensation is a simple procedure, but this book will prove them wrong. Part I sheds light on the workers’ compensation system using actual cases and why those cases “fell through the cracks.” Call it a troubleshooting guide, if you will. Part II focuses on the varying interested parties involved in workers’ compensation cases. Depending upon which party a lawyer is representing, Part II explains each party’s agenda. Part III is the logical ending, describing how to “avoid the cracks” and resolve workplace injury cases to everyone’s liking. For the visual learner, this book includes tables and figures that help lawyers and their clients share workplace perspectives with other parties. While the tables and figures appear, at first glance, to border on psycho-babble, a closer look would reveal that they would be quite helpful in negotiation strategy.

_EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW EMPLOYMENT LAW _Law Review__

Moran, William C., ed. Workers’ Compensation Law Review. Vol. 26. Buffalo, NY: William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2006.

This volume is the most recently published. In addition to discussing general matters,this volume focuses on new developments in workers’ compensation as well as recent medical considerations. Such new developments include illegal aliens’ entitlement to workers’ compensation and the interaction between the ADA, the FMLA, and workers’ compensation laws. If the researcher is in a hurry, this law review attempts user-friendliness by listing each published article and their respective summaries immediately after the table of contents. Use of this resource by workers’ compensation attorneys is highly encouraged in order to stay up-to-date on current issues in workers’ compensation law.

Internet Resources

AFL-CIO, America’s Union Movement on Workers’ Compensation, at http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/wc/.

While the AFL-CIO lobbies for laws protecting workers, this site can be helpful for lawyers nonetheless. Click on Workers’ Compensation Notes to access its bimonthly newsletter or scroll down to the many other current events within workers’ compensation reform. This site can be ultra-political, but could pave a well-informed litigation path for the employee client. Lawyers can research both state and federal workers’ compensation laws and to what degree they might be changing.

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute,

at http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Workers_compensation.

Constructed by Wex law dictionary and encyclopedia, this website gives a brief overview of the workers’ compensation concept followed by key federal and state statutes of which all workers’ compensation lawyers must be aware. Along the right margin, Wex lists, in addition to federal statutes and regulations, recent federal judicial decisions. In addition, Wex cites applicable Constitutional provisions, state statutes and judicial decisions, and internet sources. Just click the links.

The National Workers’ Compensation Website, at http://www.workerscompensation.com/.

When browsing for workers’ compensation websites, one would most logically begin by typing this URL. This website is designed for employers, employees, medical providers, and insurers to use its research center or find a workers’ compensation lawyer. Like pictures? The homepage displays the 50 states which are actually links to each states’ workers’ compensation rules, statutes and relevant forms. For lawyers, this site contains a news, forums, and events tab which continually updates current workers’ compensation issues.

Workers’ Comp Executive, at http://www.wcexec.com/Resources.aspx.

This specific page accesses the Resources Section of its site. Here one can find only California workers’ compensation reforms and proposals in PDF format. Lawyers can find recent judicial opinions including pleadings that were filed by the parties. Toward the bottom, which seems unattainable, there are numerous proposed amendments to laws specific to workers’ compensation, medical care, and insurance.