Highlights and Interviews From the 2014 Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group Conference

• By Legal Talk Network
• October 30, 2014

The 2014 Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG) conference at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, California was a central event during pivotal times for workers’ compensation lawyers. The tenor of tones seems to indicate that change is coming and that such change will be sweeping. As outgoing President of WILG Chuck Davoli stated during his interview with Alan Pierce (host of Workers Comp Matters), “It’s not a matter of if change is coming, it’s a matter of how much and from where.” His further remarks discussed implications from the Affordable Care Act as well as the rising nation-wide prominence of pro-business interests.

Scott Trost & Nate Mudd from @AskMesothelioma joins Special Reports to talk about Mesothelioma at #WILG. pic.twitter.com/MGM2joTxKn

— Legal Talk Network (@LegalTalkNet) October 28, 2014

Alan Pierce and one of our producers took the time to sit down with some of the speakers to capture what was most important from the conference. From Lewis Heller’s concise interview on the history of workers’ compensation law to keynote speaker Jason Schechterle’s story of surviving an incident in which his police car was hit by another vehicle going 100 miles per hour, there is something for everybody.

For a complete list of interviews, see below.

• 2014 WILG Conference: Lewis Heller on the History of Workers’ Compensation Law
• 2014 WILG Conference: Steven Birnbaum and Amie Peters on Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Law
• 2014 WILG Conference: Billie-Marie Morrison on Social Media Ethical Considerations
• 2014 WILG Conference: Gilda Mariani on Employer Misclassification Fraud
• 2014 WILG Conference: Bruce Goldstein on Immigration Policy and Migrant Workers
• 2014 WILG Conference: Scott Trost and Nate Mudd on Mesothelioma Cases
• 2014 WILG Conference: Jane-Robin Wender on the Padgett Case and Florida’s Laws
• 2014 WILG Conference: Interview with Keynote Speaker Jason Schechterle
• 2014 WILG Conference: George Santini on Opting out of Workers’ Compensation
• 2014 WILG Conference: Annemarie Pantazis on the Affordable Care Act

Bruce Goldstein of http://t.co/jzcn567bC9 discusses farm worker rights with Alan Pierce at #WILG. pic.twitter.com/y76wyiCiXJ

— Legal Talk Network (@LegalTalkNet) October 28, 2014

Among the many shared concerns for this group of mostly plaintiff’s attorneys are the reduction of no-fault coverage for employees hurt on the job, unification of insurance policies under both A.C.A. and existing workers’ compensation structures, and combination of legislative actions and court decisions stemming from Florida (often referred to as the “Tipping Point”). For those interested in this area of law, the WILG Conference was an ideal event to attend. Not only did attendees have access to industry leaders such as incoming WILG President Michael Galpern, who measures his experience in decades rather than years, but they were also the benefactor of a helpful staff and speakers on pressing issues.

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