Would you like to share some of my attorney fees in Washington? By Anna McFaul and Christy Doornink, Oct 12, 2018 Anna M. McFaul Typically, parties are responsible for paying their own attorney’s fees. There are some exceptions to this, such as when a person is forced to litigate to recover an award or when other persons or entities who want to share in the award must also share the responsibility for the attorney…

Reinisch Wilson Weier PC is a 2018 Top Workplace By Reinisch Wilson Weier PC, Sep 30, 2018 Reinisch Wilson Weier PC has been named a Top Workplace in 2018 by the Oregonian/Oregon Live. The Firm is one of 100 companies in Oregon and Southwest Washington to be recognized and was ranked 15th out of 45 small companies with less than 100 employees. “Recognition as a Top Workplace by the Oregonian is a direct result…

The Washington DOSH Naughty List: Insight into the Severe Violator Enforcement Program By Jennifer Truong, Sep 20, 2018 Jennifer L. Truong For Washington state employers who have demonstrated indifference to their Washington Industrial and Safety and Health Act (WISHA) obligations, the Department of Labor and Industries Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) may add your company to Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), which can result in increased enforcement actions.[1] Whether or not…

Type B attending physicians and delegating time loss in Oregon: Do I have to pay that? By Nathan Goin, Sep 14, 2018 Nathan R. Goin Escalating medical costs, increased specialization and a growing demand for medical care within the United States has given rise to the pseudo-doctor, a medical practitioner that lacks the exact medical training of a physician, but has the same approximate expertise for most routine issues that arise in an urgent…

3 top ways to close the claims performance gap: based on five years of industry benchmarking data By Reinisch Wilson Weier PC, Aug 03, 2018 Five years of polling more than 1,700 workers’ comp claims executives has uncovered what separates the top 24 percent of claims organizations from the rest.  Survey findings of Rising Medical Solutions’ Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study show how higher performers outpace lower performers up to 10 times more in their use…

The abolition of final claim denials in Washington workers’ compensation? By Anna McFaul, Aug 03, 2018 Anna M. McFaul In what is clearly an unfortunate circumstance regarding a worker’s later diagnosis of brain cancer, the Washington Court of Appeals ruled that the common law application of res judicata and collateral estoppel do not bar a worker from filing a new claim despite prior denial of the same claim. This ruling potentially undermines the finality…

You are an Oregon claims adjuster and you’ve just received a subpoena to testify at hearing! Oh joy! By Kelly Niemeyer and Dave Wilson, Jul 17, 2018 Kelly J. Niemeyer You are a happy claims adjuster who has been diligently working on your claims: processing payments, making compensability decisions, authorizing appropriate treatment and engaging in the numerous other activities that make up your busy week. You’ve just finished processing your final time loss payment…