The ABA-founded honor society “The College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers” (CWCL) will soon convene its first educational Symposium in Phoenix. The half-day CLE, on Saturday, March 18, 2017, immediately follows the ABA workers’ compensation sections educational seminar.
The moving force behind the event, Florida Judge John Lazzara, awarded me the task of selecting, and then presenting on, the “nation’s five most significant court cases of 2016.” My panel consists of none other than Professor Mike Duff, of this blog; and one of the icons of Pennsylvania comp, Burke McLemore of Thomas, Thomas, & Hafer. (Burke will also be in Phoenix to be inducted as a Fellow of the CWCL.)
Here is my pick of the top five, selections which will likely be familiar to you if you have followed the past tumultuous year in the field:
- Vasquez v. Dillard’s, Inc., 381 P.3d 768 (Okla. 2016) (Oklahoma statute allowing “opt-out” found unconstitutional).
- Rodriguez v. Brand West Dairy, 378 P.3d 13 (N.M. 2016) (exclusion of agricultural workers from workers’ compensation coverage held unconstitutional).
- Protz v. W.C.A.B. (Derry Area School Dist.),124 A.3d 406 (Pa. Commw. 2015), appeal granted, 124 A.3d 406 (Pa. 2016) (broad delegation by legislature to oblige physicians and legal system to utilize the “latest edition” of the AMA Guides was constitutionally impermissible) [note: argued 11.1.2016.]
- Vitale v. Schering-Plough Corporation, 146 A.3d 162 (N.J. Super. A.D. 2016), pet. for cert. for rev. granted, 2016 WL 7665625 (employment clause obliging workers to waive right to sue third parties in event of work injury held violative of public policy).
- Castellanos v. Next Door Co., 192 So.3d 431 (Fl. 2016) (mandatory sliding-scale fee attorney’s fees schedule which could afford minimal fees violated due process clauses of Florida and United States Constitutions).
For more information about the two programs, see http://www.americanbar.org/groups/labor_law/committees/wccom/midwinter.html.