Shannon M. Blair

Overview

Ms. Blair is a Partner in the Workers’ Compensation Practice Group and is a Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.  As a civil litigator with well-developed litigation and negotiation skills, legal research and writing skills – Ms. Blair’s practice focuses on the areas of workers’ compensation defense and third party subrogation. Ms. Blair has extensive trial and arbitration experience litigating workers’ compensation matters. She has conducted thousands of depositions of both applicant’s and physicians.

Ms. Blair’s practice encompasses all aspects of workers’ compensation law, including claims alleging violation of California Labor Code sections 132a and 4553 et seq. (employer serious and willful misconduct). The clients with whom she works include self-insured employers, and employers who maintain high retention levels requiring strict oversight of their claims. Our clients include multiple well regarded fortune 100 and 500 companies – including Chevron Corporations, Pool Corp., Kiewit, Wilson Construction, CORT and Walgreens Co. We also represent CAVA, Asurion, and Shaw. We have longstanding relationships representing insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual, Sentry Insurance, Hudson Insurance, and Continental Casualty Company. We are also proud to represent sophisticated local and small businesses who focus resources on reducing their workers’ compensation costs including ACI Last Mile.

Ms. Blair also assists clients in the prosecution of cases involving workers’ compensation fraud with the Department of Insurance and the District Attorney. She recently obtained $100,000 of restitution on behalf of a client after the applicant agreed to plead no contest to workers’ compensation fraud. The applicant collected temporary disability benefits while concurrently working for a subsequent employer. The applicant also failed to disclose material information in order to fraudulently obtain workers’ compensation benefits.

Ms. Blair is currently the ALFA International Workers’ Compensation Practice Group Chair, previously serving as the marketing chair and program chair.  She has lectured in seminars on several workers’ compensation subjects and is an invited speaker for ALFA International’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group Seminars. Ms. Blair has also served as a Judge Pro Tem before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.

Prior to joining Haight, Ms. Blair began her career in-house as legal counsel for a third-party administrator litigating workers’ compensation claims for CBS and Paramount Studios. Prior to law school, Ms. Blair administrated employee benefits for the Federal Aviation Administration, including workers’ compensation claims.

Community Involvement

In law school Ms. Blair volunteered at the San Diego Superior Court Family Law Facilitator’s Office drafting documents for indigent families and mediating disputes. She also mediated disputes between inmates at the San Diego Juvenile Hall. While volunteering at the Social Security Administration, she successfully represented a claimant in the appeal of their application for benefits.

Ms. Blair spends her free time training her three dogs and working on her golf handicap. She plays golf with the LPGA Amateur Golf Association, an association designed to provide women greater access to the game of golf and the First Tee. She is also a member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and participates in their golf league with other women in the legal community. The league also supports the SCGA Junior girls’ golf league by sponsoring play day events and rules classes. Ms. Blair also routinely plays in charity golf tournaments, including those put on by the Los Angeles Bar Association and the Beverly Hills Bar Association which support free and low-cost access to legal services in the community. She also volunteers her time aiding children with their quine therapy combining her love of horses from her childhood growing up on a ranch and volunteering.

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