Guest Leo V. Boyle recalls the frantic 60 hours after the 9/11 terror attacks of 2001. He calls that time “law’s finest hour” as pro bono tort attorneys collaborated with Congressional leaders to craft the $7 billion victims’ compensation fund.  Boyle shares how lawyers from across the country came together and rushed to head off potentially pointless class action suits in favor of protecting victims, survivors, and their families in apparent contrast to everything he’s ever stood for. What would be the point of winning a judgment if there were no one who could pay? It was a time when eve ..read more

Guest Kenneth Feinberg was appointed by President George W. Bush to administer the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund after one of our greatest tragedies. In a very special episode of Workers’ Comp Matters, he shares how his team raced to administer $7.1 billion to families and victims of the 2001 terror attacks.  Feinberg compares the unique, Congressionally mandated process to current Workers’ Compensation and the raw emotions that made his charge painfully difficult. Working with thousands of survivors and injured victims, his team worked thr`ough their anger, sadness, and skeptic ..read more

In the potentially dangerous spectacle of big time WWE pro wrestling, performers work without Workers’ Comp or other recourse. Guest Mary Catena, a scholar and attorney, studies the issue.  While the WWE has successfully argued wrestlers are contract workers, Catena sees cracks in the wall. What might a favorable ruling mean for other contract workers – and employers? Special thanks to our sponsor PInow.com ..read more

Workers’ compensation law is full of doctrines, some easier than others to understand. To help clarify the specifics of two particular doctrines 一 the “going and coming” rule and the “level floor” doctrine 一 Judson Pierce takes the opportunity to interview Alan S. Pierce to get a detailed look at how these two doctrines operate. Special thanks to our sponsor, PInow ..read more

As the fully vaccinated emerge and more and more offices welcome employees back in-person, employers may be looking for creative ways to reconnect their teams in the office and on the softball field. Before organizing that company picnic or sponsoring, they may want to check their liability for employees. Hosts Judson and Alan Pierce address the “deceptively simple and litigiously prolific” workers comp doctrine of recreational injuries, varying standards of proof, and possible defenses.  Jud and Alan parse the various work-related factors, including how voluntary the activity is and the ..read more

While researching the Manhattan Project, filmmaker Ginny Mohler stumbled on a little-told story of the young watch-dial painters in New Jersey during the Roaring Twenties. Her search for “dial painters” led her to a Wikipedia page on the “Radium Girls,” and a fascination was born. Nine years later, her independent film, “Radium Girls,” debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the documentary is now streaming on Netflix. Hosts Judson Pierce and Alan Pierce interview Mohler about the fascinating genesis of the film, its place in the history of occupational health law, and the complex legal batt ..read more

Just like workers’ compensation, states have varying approaches to vocational rehabilitation. Voc rehab expert Rhonda Jellenik and host Judson Pierce discuss how state programs differ and what role counselors like Jellenik play in the legal and job training processes. Whether called on by a plaintiff or defendant, Jellenik helps determine whether the worker has transferable skills and what options for employment are available with and without additional training. And because she works in Massachusetts, she often has the opportunity to work with injured workers in a more comprehensive way from ..read more

Teamster turned national workers’ comp expert Michael Duff explains the presumption landscape that’s rapidly developed over the last year during the pandemic. He and hosts Alan and Judson Pierce discuss presumptions by statute, executive order, and administrative enactment. Given the state of emergency, big questions emerging involve executive authority limits and what presumption for workers comp cases will look like as the emergency subsides. For his part, Duff doesn’t believe the end is anywhere near, expecting the nation is only at the midway point in dealing with the pandemic. Michael C ..read more

Darrell West, an expert on artificial intelligence in the workplace, talks about the critical intersection America is facing and the public policy changes necessary to avoid mass suffering. Hosts Alan and Judson Pierce probe West on the future of work, with the increased use of automation and the continued growth of temporary and contract jobs. While part-time, temporary, and contract jobs can add flexibility and come at a low cost for employers, they often don’t come with key social benefits including retirement plans, disability insurance, and health insurance. Current public policy is based ..read more

Sensational coverage and panic drove much of the early discussion and predictions about workers comp during the beginning of the pandemic. But workers comp legal expert Emily Spieler says that early handwringing by employers and employees was overblown. That said, Spieler and host Alan Pierce discuss how the pandemic placed a spotlight on the workers’ compensation system. For Spieler, the pandemic exposed how the nation’s poor healthcare safety net puts tremendous pressure on workers comp because there is no other real recourse for employees who get sick and can demonstrate they were exposed a ..read more