Does the Firm Have Multi-Jurisdictional Experience?
Continuing with Kevin Quinley’s “how to” tips about improving the quality of defense counsel employer’s use, he suggests several ways to make sure the firm has experience in your jurisdiction. Kevin has years of experience and is an authority in claims management.
Realtors will tell you that, in matters of real estate value, the three most important factors are location, location and location. To a lesser extent, this is also in assessing the value of workers compensation defense counsel. As part of the vetting process, consider the attorney‘s and firm’s multi-jurisdictional experience. For risk or claim managers handling files for more than one state, an attorney’s flexibility is key.
Work compensation defense skill is not necessarily or easily transferred from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. You may find a superb defense attorney in California, but that may do little good when you need a specialist defending claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act. Does the firm have offices in the states where you are likely to have claims? Are compensation specialists staffed in those other locations?
Having defense counsel with multi-jurisdictional experience can be a plus in various situations. One is if your employees travel locally but in a multi-state area. For example, I live and work in the Washington D.C. area. Employees there often travel daily between Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Each of these three jurisdictions have materially different benefit structures, making jurisdiction a huge financial factor in workers compensation costs. Having a defense firm steeped in all three jurisdiction’s laws is an asset. Or maybe your CFO is attending a tax conference in California. While showering in his room at the Marriott, he slips and breaks his wrist. Is this compensable and, if so, would California comp benefits apply? Having a firm with multi-jurisdictional experience can help here too.
Location is also a factor in assessing the attorney’s proximity to the workers compensation venue: How close is the lawyer to the courthouse or commission office holding work comp hearings? If the attorney must travel long distances, the client may pay dearly in costs. Attorneys close to the courthouse can also often more easily keep tabs on the pulse of the compensation system: what arguments succeed and which fail, the likes, dislikes, personalities and idiosyncrasies of the Hearing Commissioners along with courthouse scuttlebutt that may be useful in workers compensation claim defense.
Kevin Quinley CPCU, AIC, ARM is a noted claims consultant, trainer, speaker and expert witness. He is the author of ten books on various aspects of claims management. He is a contributing author to the IIA textbook for the Associate in Claims courses, Principles of Workers Compensation Claims (Second Edition) 1998. You can reach Kevin at kquinley@cox.net, by phoning (703) 239-1694 or via his website, www.kevinquinley.com
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