Workers’ Compensation

Exceptional service doesn’t just happen

Workers’ Compensation

Haight Brown & Bonesteel’s Workers’ Compensation practice group specializes in the defense of the full panoply of workers’ compensation matters. Our attorneys have accumulated more than 75 years of experience in the field and offer a concierge experience to clients ranging from sole proprietors to some of the largest companies in the United States.

The firm’s practice experience includes guiding clients through all aspects of workers’ compensation, from planning to avoid claims through the trial of the more rare instances of §132a discrimination claims, claims for serious and willful misconduct, and defense of independent contractors before the WCAB. Our expertise includes representation in civil indemnification and subrogation. The practice group is an integral part of the firm’s employment law group, ensuring that there is close coordination and attention to the issues that affect a client’s exposure to actions under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and adherence to California’s privacy protection statutes.

Our clients include self-insured employers, some self- administered, some who utilize third-party administrators, employers who maintain high retention levels, insurance carriers, construction companies, public school districts (including K-12), community colleges and small businesses operating under employee leasing programs or who work with independent contractors. We count among our clients multiple Fortune 500 companies, including Chevron Corporation, Mattel, Inc., Pool Corp., Kiewit, Brookdale Senior Living, Wilson Construction, Roto-Rooter, CORT and Walgreens Co. We have longstanding relationships representing insurance companies such as Sentry Insurance,  Hudson Insurance, Safety National 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 and ISYS.

The firm’s workers’ compensation partners are all Certified Specialists in Workers’ Compensation Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Our attorneys appear before the workers’ compensation appeals board throughout California. Our approach to this area of law is to identify each client’s needs individually and guide them through the labyrinth of administrative law. Working closely with the client, we devise planning and litigation strategies that are appropriate for that client’s workforce, litigation philosophy and insurance program.

  • The iComp Calculator

CLICK HERE FOR DATA PRIVACY POLICY

Never be without a schedule of California’s permanent disability values again. The iComp Calculator by Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP displays the compensation rate and permanent disability value for any date of injury after 1983. You provide the average weekly earnings and it calculates the TTD rate and PD rate. You provide the percentage of permanent disability; the App calculates the number of weeks of payment, the lump sum value of permanent disability and, where appropriate, the life pension weekly rate for percentages up to 99.75%. You can’t inadvertently use a permanent disability rate out of range for the date of injury, because the application shows the range permitted for each disability percentage and date.

This tool replaces all the charts and folders practitioners have had to carry around to obtain permanent disability values in California’s complex system. The calculator is a short-cut that makes PD charts and tables obsolete. And, it works off-line! Try it free for 30 days from the iTunes store at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icomp-calculator/id704045365?mt=8, then purchase it for $4.99 if you want to continue to use it to save time and effort. The App will be updated with the 2014 rates before the end of 2013.

Caution is of course required when using the App, and no legal opinion is expressed in providing this application or the results it returns. Each user remains entirely and solely responsible for the proper use of the application, for confirming that the data used is accurate, and for confirming that the answers provided by the application conform to all the applicable provisions of the California Labor Code. Neither Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP nor TZT&C LLC warrant the accuracy of the results nor the proper use of the application.

No liability will be assumed by the publisher, writer or sponsor of the application for its proper use or accuracy.

FAQs:

I need help on how to use the App, how do I get instructions?

Please send your questions regarding operating the App to tpenny@hbblaw.com.

I have problems loading the App or it keeps hanging up on my iPhone or iPad, where can I go for technical advice?

Please send your technical questions about operating the App in the iOS environment to glazed4@yahoo.com.

I have a question about California workers’ compensation law, can you help me?

Please direct all questions about workers’ compensation law to tpenny@hbblaw.com.

Does the App calculate the life pension rate for the years following December 31 of the year in which the Life Pension starts?

No. The law provides that “For injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2003, an employee who becomes entitled to receive a life pension or total permanent disability indemnity . . . shall have that payment increased annually commencing on January 1, 2004, and each January 1 thereafter . . .”. Labor Code Section 4659(c). The App does not contain the data nor do the calculation for applying that increase.

Will the App reflect future changes in permanent disability?

Yes. The data to provide the permanent disability for each year after the year of purchase will be available to all paid App subscribers on or before January 1 of that year.

I would like to retain your firm to represent my company in a workers’ compensation matter, who should I contact?

Please direct all inquiries for representation to tpenny@hbblaw.com.