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DECEMBER
2011
PONTICELLO
TO SPEAK AT ADC ANNUAL MEETING
Barry
Ponticello will be a speaker at the 52nd Annual Meeting
of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California
and Nevada, held at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
Mr. Ponticello will address civil liability issues surrounding
injury claims to employees of hired contractors, and
recent appellate and Supreme Court decisions on this
and related topics.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
MAY
2011
PONTICELLO
ARGUES BEFORE STATE'S HIGH COURT
On
May 25, 2011, Barry Ponticello argued before the California
Supreme Court in the matter of Seabright Insurance
v USAirways. This matter arose out of a workers'
compensation subrogation action filed by Mr. Ponticello.
The Court accepted review to address issues of non delegable
duties and the parameters of affirmative contribution
in the Privette context. The matter now stands
submitted and a decision is shortly expected.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
FEBRUARY
2011
WHEATON
MAKES PARTNER
As
of January 2011, Terry Wheaton has become a partner
in the firm. Mr. Wheaton brings a wealth of varied experience
to his practice and the firm. He worked in both the
construction and industrial safety industries prior
to becoming a member of the California Bar. This included
work as a journeyman carpenter, building both commercial
and residential structures, as well as an industrial
electrician at manufacturing facilities. Further, Terry
worked as a Risk Manager for Hughes Network Systems/San
Diego and Hughes Network Systems S.A. de C.V prior to
practicing law. These work experiences have provided
valuable insight to the firm in our everyday practice.
Combining these experiences with his aggressive litigation
skills have made Terry a formidable litigator and a
great asset to the firm. Mr. Wheaton practices workers'
compensation defense and subrogation in the firm's Los
Angeles office.
SIECKMAN JOIN EPS
Kelly
Sieckman joined EPS as an associate in the firm's San
Diego office in January 2011. Ms. Sieckman, a Whittier
law school graduate, has practiced workers' compensation
defense for more than 10 years in southern California.
She has experience in all aspects of workers' compensation
litigation, including litigating matters that have resulted
in fraud criminal convictions. Ms. Sieckman works in
the firm's San Diego office.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
OCTOBER
2010
ENGLAND
PRESENTS AT STATE BAR CONVENTION
A
workers' compensation panel at the State Bar convention
on October 23 features Susan England as a panelist.
She will address issues of privacy and related topics
in workers' comnpensation matters.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
JULY
2010
EPS'
L.A. OFFICE RELOCATES
Due
to our Los Angeles area expansion, as of July 2010,
our L.A. office has relocated to the following address
(with new telephone and fax numbers):
ENGLAND
PONTICELLO &
ST.CLAIR
4551 Glencoe Avenue, Suite
120
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Tel: (310) 578-2061
Fax (310) 821-5986
ADRIAN
TO LOS ANGELES OFFICE
Senior
associate Nadine Adrian will also transfer from our
San Diego office to our new L.A. office location (approximately
one mile from the Marina del Rey WCAB), as of July.
Ms. Adrian, a Pepperdine law school graduate, has over
a dozen years of litigation experience, primarily in
the areas of workers' compensation defense and personal
injury litigation, including multiple jury trials. She
has served as faculty on an annual basis for Lorman
Educational Services' Workers' Compensation Update programs
in San Diego and Orange County, and as a contributing
author for the monthly journal, Workers' Comp Alert.
Ms. Adrian will continue her handling of California
workers' compensation, LHWCA and subrogation matters
from our Marina del Rey office.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
JUNE
2010
EPS
SUBROGATION MATTER TO BE HEARD BY CALIFORNIA SUPREME
COURT
In
a subrogation matter appealed by EPS to the 1st District
Court of Appeal and argued by Barry Ponticello, the
1st District issued a published opinion in the matter
of Seabright v USAir et al, reversing in full
the Trial level, and remanding the matter back to the
Trial court so that the question of the Defendant's
negligence and Seabright Insurance's subrogation rights
could be resolved by a jury. This matter addressed the
Privette/Toland line of cases. The California
Supreme Court has now granted review of this matter,
with briefing, argument and sumbsission to be upcoming.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
MARCH
2010
ST.CLAIR
AND MORIARITY CONDUCT EMPLOYER GROUP WORKSHOP
Renee
St.Clair and Heather Moriarity conducted a workshop
on March 23, 2010 addressing workers' compensation issues.
This workshop, for the San Diego Employers Association,
focused on employers' concerns.
ENGLAND
TO PRESENT TO THE ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS
Susan
England will speak on issues of medical management and
nurse case manager involvement to the Association of
Insurance Professionals on March 2, 2010.
SUBROGATION
RECOVERIES CONTINUE
EPS'
subrogation unit has netted a few hundred thousand dollars
more in recoveries in the past few months, including
on an appeal of an intercompany arbitration matter.
On another particular matter, attorney Nadine Adrian
was able to not only extract $125,000 in reimbursement,
but also a third party Compromise and Release, expunging
over a hundred thousand dollars in future workers' compensation
liability.
________________________________________________________________________________________
JANUARY
2010
WHEATON
TO LOS ANGELES OFFICE
EPS
senior associate Terry Wheaton moved to EPS' Los Angeles
office as of January 1, 2010. Mr. Wheaton, who was recently
succesful on the workers' compensation certified specialist
exam, will continue practicing workers' compensation
and subrogation.
MORIARITY
JOINS EPS
Heather
Moriarity joined EPS in January. Ms.Moriarity is a graduate
of University of California, Berkeley and the University
of San Diego School of Law, where she was a member of
the Law Review. Prior to coming to EPS, Ms. Moriarity
has argued matters before the Court of Appeal. She will
practice workers' compensation, subrogation and maritime
matters with the firm.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
SEPTEMBER
2009
EPS
OPENS LOS ANGELES OFFICE
We
are proud to announce the opening of our Los Angeles
office as of October 1, 2009. Our attorneys have long
been litigating matters throughout southern California.
We look forward to utilizing this Los Angeles presence
to better serve our clients throughout southern California.
Firm partner Renee St.Clair will oversee the EPS Los
Angeles office. Our Los Angeles office information is
as follows:
ENGLAND
PONTICELLO & ST.CLAIR
13101 Washington Blvd., Suite 134
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Tel: 310-821-1900
Fax: 310- 566-7124
PONTICELLO
TO APPEAR AS PANELIST ON ALMARAZ/GUZMAN WEBINAR
Barry
Ponticello will appear on October 1, 2009 as a panelist
at the "Impairment Resources" webinar discussing
the recent Almaraz/Guzman WCAB decision.
500K+
OBTAINED BY EPS SUBRO UNIT IN SUMMER '09
The
EPS subrogation team continued its succesful ways in
the summer of 2009, obtaining over $500,000 in reimbursement
on 3 matters. The largest recovery represented a 100%
reimbursement of all that had been paid on the matter,
and included a third party Compromise and Release. On
the two other matters, one also resulted in a third
party Compromise and Release, while the other included
credit to the defendant for an employee still employed.
ENGLAND
TO SPEAK AT STATE BAR CONFERENCE
Ms.
England will be a panelist at the Workers' Compensation
Section of the State Bar of California Fall Conference
on October 24, 2009, at the Omni Hotel in San Diego,
CA. The panel "will discuss how to effectively
develop the record with the use of experts. They will
also provide practical tips on how to best use experts'
testimony and/or their reports throughout the discovery
process and at trial."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
JUNE
2009
EPS
NETS MORE SUBRO RECOVERIES
Two
more subrogation recoveries were garnered by the EPS
subrogation in June. One involved a policy limits obtainment
in a motor vehicle matter. The second resulted from
a premises liability matter of disputed liability, in
which the majority of payments were recovered .
_________________________________________________________________________________________
FEBRUARY
2009
EPS
subrogation unit continues recoveries
EPS'
active workers' compensation subrogation unit has achieved
4 recoveries since the beginning of 2009, totaling over
$200,000 to date, adding to the multiple recoveries
in 2008. EPS' subrogation unit has been active in both
state and Federal matters in southern California. In
a recent matter, EPS
was able to achieve a subrogation recovery of 25% greater
than their CCP 998 demand.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
SEPTEMBER
2008
PONTICELLO
AND ST.CLAIR TO SPEAK AT WORKERS' COMPENSATION FORUM
Barry
Ponticello and Renee St.Clair will present topics at
the "6th Annual California Workers' Comp Forum",
held in Huntington Beach, October 29-31, 2008. On a
panel with San Diego presiding workers' compensation
judge Levy on October 30, Barry Ponticello will disscuss
"Where We Stand with Future Earning Capacity in
California Workers' Comp". On October 31, Renee
St.Clair will be a panelist in the workshop addressing
" Finding Your Way Through the Confusing Leave
and Disability Law Labyrinth: FMLA/CFRA, ADA/FEHA, and
Workers' Comp".
For
more information, please see the Council on Education
in Management's forum website (http://www.cawcforum.com),
or contact our office.
________________________________________________________________________________________
JUNE
2008
EPS
ROOTS OUT FRAUD
EPS
attorneys regularly take steps necessary to protect
our clients from fraudulent claims. EPS activities in
a recent matter helped result in a fraud conviction.
As reported in the Department of Insurance press release
(http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/0070-2008/nr057-2008.cfm):
News: 2008 Press Release
For Release: June 13, 2008
San Diego Man Sentenced To Jail, Ordered to Pay More
than $25,000 in Restitution for Workers Comp Fraud Scheme
SACRAMENTO Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner today
announced the sentencing of a San Diego man for insurance
fraud. On May 21 Ramon Romo was sentenced to 180 days
in San Diego Superior Court and ordered to pay more
than $25,000 in restitution in addition to $680 in fines.
"Scamming your insurance company doesn't pay,"
said Commissioner Poizner. "My Department of Insurance
investigators work closely with district attorneys throughout
the state to make sure that insurance fraud does not
go unpunished."
On June 6, 2005, Romo fractured his thumb while on
the job, and filed a workers' compensation claim with
his employer, NASSCO. Several months later, he added
claims for back, neck and right shoulder injuries, claiming
the injuries occurred at the same time as his thumb
injury. In December 2005, Romo testified under oath
that his additional injuries were not preexisting. He
repeated this claim during a qualified medical exam.
On two separate occasions in June 2006, Romo was videotaped
lifting and carrying heavy materials including sheetrock
and insulation. He was also seen carrying a young child.
In October 2006, Romo told his medical examiner that
he was unable to lift his two year-old child, and any
objects exceeding 20 pounds.
California Department of Insurance (CDI) Fraud Division
investigators additionally discovered that Romo had
filed a workers' compensation claim for neck and back
injuries in 1998 with his previous employer, Airline
Interiors. Because of his injuries at that time, he
reached a settlement in March 2003 and received $26,000
for his injuries.
As a result of this investigation by CDI, NASSCO, and
the San Diego District Attorney's Office, Romo pled
guilty to one count of insurance fraud, and ordered
to pay $25,830.67 in restitution to NASSCO, his employer.
____________________________________________________________________________________
JANUARY
2008
WHEATON
TO ATTEND COUNCIL ON ETHICAL BILLING CONFERENCE
Terry
Wheaton, a member of the Council on Ethical Billing
and Litigation Excellence, will represent the firm at
the group's annual seminar in Orlando, Florida in March
2008.
ENGLAND
TO SPEAK AT RIMS, CAAA AND NATIONAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION
CONFERENCE
Susan
England will speak at the San Diego RIMS January monthly
meeting, presenting a case law update. She will also
present medical and legal issues at the CAAA annual
convention in Palm Springs, and the ACOEM sponsored
national workers' compensation conference in Coronado
in January.
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