Choose a date below to see the panels offered.
Continuing Education Credits awarded when attending the entire convention:
Minimum Continuing Legal Education: 16.00 MCLE (including 1.25 Ethics)
Legal Specialization in Workers’ Compensation: 13.50 MCLE
Division of Workers’ Compensation: 1.25 QME
Click on the links below to see an extended description, panelists and continuing education credits for each session.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
Navigating the Workers' Compensation Obstacle Course:
How to Successfully Access Injured Workers' Benefits in a Skewed Environment
1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Getting MPNs to do Their Job
- Obtaining pre-authorizations for medical treatment.
- Obtaining court orders to access reasonable treatment.
- Sample letters and petitions to use in litigating treatment issues.
- Ensuring MPN doctors are paid for review of records, med-legal reports and appropriate treatment.
- Recognizing inappropriate UR denials.
Credit: 1.25 MCLE, 1.25 Legal Specialization
2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Not-so-Special Delivery: Common Defense Tactics That Interfere with the Delivery of Injured Worker Benefits
- Withholding authorizations for treatment.
- “Adding” cumulative trauma claims.
- Failure to comply with the duty to investigate.
- Directives given to “industrial clinics” and other MPN medical providers.
- Withholding subrosa video and serving it after doctors’ evaluations.
Credit: 1.25 MCLE, 1.25 Legal Specialization
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Brave New World: The QME Quagmire in 2018
- The panel QME striking process.
- Choosing medical specialties for QME requests.
- Objecting to position papers/cover letters (Maxham case).
- The Medical Unit’s denial of requests for psyche QMEs.
- Obtaining additional QME panels.
- Disputes regarding ML-104 billing
Credit: 1.5 MCLE, 1.5 Legal Specialization
6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
“WELCOME RECEPTION” IN EXHIBIT HALL
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
The Law and Politics of Workers' Compensation
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
The 10 Most Important Things to Know to Successfully Represent Injured Workers
- The passionate panel will disclose tools, approaches, arguments, and attitudes when it unveils the list of 10 strategies to successfully represent injured workers.
Credit: 1.0 MCLE, 1.0 Legal Specialization
The Art and Science of RFA Writing
- What doctors should focus on in an RFA.
- How to get RFAs for treatment approved.
- Properly using medical guides to substantiate requests.
- Urgent treatment requests.
Credit: 1.25 MCLE, 1.25 Legal Specialization, 1.25 QME
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Commissioners' Panel
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Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners discuss recent interesting Board Panel Decisions
Credit: 1.25 MCLE, 1.25 Legal Specialization
Marvin Shapiro Memorial: Most Important Cases
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The esteemed panel discusses the cases that are shaping workers’ compensation in California today
Credit: 2.0 MCLE, 2.0 Legal Specialization
The Winds of Change: The Future is Now; Current Labor Issues Affecting our Practice
- Participating in the legislative process and the 2018 election.
- What are the important issues?
- ICE at the WCAB and undocumented workers.
- The alternative work force: The “gig” worker; independent contractor and the future of labor.
Credit: 1.25 MCLE
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2018
Truth or Consequences... And, Dealing with the Consequences
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
House Cleaning: The New Rules of Ethics
- Changes to the State Bar Rules of Ethics.
- A new era of capping and illegal referrals.
- Protecting people who need representation.
- Are Spanish speaking people being exploited
Credit: 1.25 MCLE (Ethics)
New Considerations Addressing Permanent Disability and Apportionment
- Identifying consequential medical conditions after work-related injuries.
- Relevant AMA Guide Tables for WPI.
- The Hikida case
- Pearls of the AMA Guides - Revisited.
Credit: 1.25 MCLE (Ethics), 1.25 Legal Specialization
SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018
Looking into the Proverbial Crystal Ball
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
The Science of Genetics: Legal Apportionment or Politics?
- Statutory provisions and issues regarding apportionment to asymptomatic issues.
- City of Jackson case.
- Practical applications: Identifying issues, discovery requests and strategic tactics.
- Is genetic testing reliable? Speculative?
Credit: 1.25 MCLE, 1.25 Legal Specialization
Carveouts: Debunking the Myths of Alternatives to the Workers’ Compensation System as We Know It
- Are “carveouts” the future of workers’ compensation in California?
- The role of the attorney in carveouts.
- Timely and effective assistance in obtaining treatment and indemnity benefits.
- Discovery, litigation and settlement in the alternative system.
Credit: 1.5 MCLE, 1.5 Legal Specialization