RECENT PENNSYLVANIA UIM DECISIONS

December 07, 2011 by connorsodell

October 19, 2011 was a very busy day for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, as it posted two UIM Decisions on its website, at www.aopc.org. The first Decision posted was Williams v. Geico, with the Opinion issued by Madame Justice Orie Melvin. Williams addressed the “regular-use” exclusion in a personal automobile insurance policy as being a… Read more »

PARTNER ANNOUNCEMENT

November 07, 2011 by connorsodell

ConnorsLaw proudly announces that Jeffrey D. Snyder, Esquire, formerly of Chartwell Law Offices, has joined the firm as a partner in its Casualty Litigation Trial Practice and Workers’ Compensation Practice groups. Mr. Snyder is a graduate of Temple University and its Graduate School of Business Administration. His Juris Doctor degree is from the University of… Read more »

“DO YOU FEEL LUCKY, WELL DO YA?”

November 04, 2011 by connorsodell

Acknowledging the forever infamous and early-on, career-defining line by Clint Eastwood, acting out a justice-seeking Jungian communal subconscious, as the pistol-packing but never quite sure of the number of bullets in his gun’s chamber, Dirty Harry, the character that most of us secretly revere for his brutal but impatiently honest righteousness, now would be an… Read more »

Two New Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Forms

November 03, 2011 by connorsodell

In the last few months, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has launched two (2) new forms, one being a new Notice of Workers’ Compensation Denial (“NCD”), the second being a new Utilization Review Request form (“UR”). The forms are available through the Bureau’s web portal at the Office of Adjudication, an agency under the… Read more »

Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Practices & Procedures

October 20, 2011 by connorsodell

COMPENSABILITY Claim Decision: 21 days to accept or deny following notice of injury. Acceptance or denial must be confirmed with filing of appropriate state forms. Temporary compensation benefits, without formal acceptance of the claim as compensable, can be paid for 90 days. Defenses: Not in course and scope of employment; no employer/employee relationship; intentional self-inflicted… Read more »

Check Your Voice Mail!

October 13, 2011 by connorsodell

A recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decision, in Gentex Corporation v. WCAB (Morack), takes a bold leap forward in integrating voice mail into the modalities available to an injured employee seeking to provide his/her employer with notification sufficient to satisfy the sometimes ambiguous vagaries of Section 312 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, for purposes of… Read more »

To Die: For Who, For What?

October 13, 2011 by connorsodell

In Donald Werner v. WCAB (Greenleaf Service Corporation), the Commonwealth Court affirmed the denial of a Fatal Claim Petition brought by the Decedent’s widow, who alleged that the Decedent had sustained a work-related injury in the nature of a massive intracranial hemorrhage, ultimately resulting in the Decedent dying ten (10) days post-hemorrhage. In between the… Read more »

Digest of Appelate Decisions

October 13, 2011 by connorsodell

Frances Keene v. WCAB (Ogden Corporation) 1421 C.D. 2010 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2010) The Commonwealth Court reversed the decision of the Appeal Board (Board) which reversed the decision of the WCJ to deny Employer’s suspension petition. Claimant sustained a work-related injury to her right knee when she slipped on the step of an airport passenger shuttle… Read more »

TO SUSPEND OR NOT TO SUSPEND

September 22, 2011 by connorsodell

Whether tis nobler to suffer the outrageous slings of compensationitis, or to take arms against a sea of injections, sign for the certified job offer letter, and return to work, as requested by your employer, and as opined by the independent medical examiner. Interesting issue, albeit narrow, in Vaughn v. WCAB (Carrara Steel Erectors), an… Read more »

Pennsylvania Labor Law Stiffling Economic Growth

August 22, 2011 by connorsodell

A recent comparative analysis rendered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce placed Pennsylvaniain the Tier III category, ranking states from “good” to “fair” to “poor”, in terms of how a state’s employment policies impacted on job and economic growth. Tier I (“good”) states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,… Read more »