This program is eligible for 6 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 7.2 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.
Overview
Join PBI for a fast-paced introduction to the practice--learn via skits and panel discussion!
This is the next best thing to shadowing a mentor.
Relax in your seat and watch a typical comp case proceed from claim to negotiation to compromise and release. After each skit, the panel gathers for a lively exchange as the actions in the preceding skit are analyzed and evaluated.
Establish and revitalize your practice as you learn:
- How to conduct client conferences, depositions, and hearings
- How to use investigative services and the Internet
- What criteria a judge will use to decide a questionable case
- All about comp forms and filings—what’s required, when, and where to file
The Agenda
- Introduction to Workers’ Compensation Law
- Initial Presentation of Claim
- Litigation
- Argument
- The Ruling and Appeal Process
- Other Petitions that Can Be Filed Subsequent to the Acceptance of the Claim or the Granting of a Claim Petition
- Filing and Litigation of a Modification Petition/Attempts to Limit Exposure
- Negotiation between Parties to Settle or Mediate
- Compromise & Release
- Questions & Answers
Make the book your preferred desk mate. It's a goldmine of information!
- The law and procedure
- Rules and regulations
- Internet sources
- A “jargon” glossary
- Sample documents!
Ethics information has been integrated throughout this program. To receive ethics credit, you must attend the entire course.
Co-sponsored with the PBA Workers' Compensation Section. Not a member? You can signup here.
Recorded in March 2024.
Faculty
Robert Baker Esq.
Mr. Baker is a partner in the Harrisburg Office of Chartwell Law. He is a 1997 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He also received a Master of Arts degree in Industrial and Labor Relations in 1999 from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the Widener University School of Law. Prior to joining The Chartwell Law Offices, LLP, Mr. Baker was Corporate Director of Human Resources for a large Mid-Atlantic corporation, where he was responsible for employment law compliance, employee relations, workers’ compensation management of insured and self-insured programs and other matters. He is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Pennsylvania State Council and the Human Resources Professionals of Central Pennsylvania. He devotes his practice to the defense of general employment and workers’ compensation matters. He writes and lectures extensively with respect to all aspects of employment law.
Douglas Williams Esq.
Mr. Williams is a partner at Abes Baumann with more than 22 years of experience in Workers’ Compensation, Social Security and Veterans’ Benefits. He’s an integral part of the Abes Baumann team that represents the rights of injured workers. He is a 1991 graduate of Grove City College, and he earned a J.D. from Duquesne University in 1996. While at Duquesne, he was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law. During law school, he worked as a law clerk at Abes Baumann, applying what he learned in the classroom to the problems of real people injured on the job. He has clerked for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, researching and drafting decisions for Workers’ Compensation Judges. Married for more than 20 years with two children, he coaches youth soccer and basketball; he also volunteers as an advisor and judge for High School Mock Trial teams. Mr. Williams is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and its Workers’ Compensation Section. Likewise, he is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and its Workers’ Compensation Section. He is also an active member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice where he serves as an active member of the Amicus Curiae Committee. In that capacity, he has written numerous Amicus briefs to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth and Supreme Courts. He is also a member of the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Williams was chosen by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers as a “Pennsylvania Rising Star” lawyer in 2005-2007. He has since been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and was also named to Best Lawyers in America.
Hon. John W. McTiernan
Judge McTiernan served as a member of the course planning committee, the team that plans and presents the biennial PBI program Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Practice & Procedure, and writes the manual from 1989 through 2014. He has served on the Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee, appointed by the Secretary of Labor and Industry, and its predecessor, the Committee for Referees’ Rules and Procedures from 1993 to 2016. He is a past chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section. He is also past chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section. Judge McTiernan was a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. He is the recipient of the prestigious Irvin Stander Award, 2011, from the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section. Judge McTiernan was listed in The BestLawyers in America, published by Woodward & White from 1997 through 2017 and was named in the Best American Lawyers in Workers’ Compensation. He was also listed as one of Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers from 2005 through 2017. He has also been a member of the board of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania, and served as its president from 2014-2015. A former partner in the Pittsburgh firm of Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Coleman, he currently serves as a workers’ compensation judge in the Brookville WCOA office.
Queena Baumbach Esq.
Ms. Baumbach is a partner in the law firm of Perry & Baumbach, P.C. in Wormleysburg. She concentrates her practice in fighting for claimants’ rights in workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability matters. Ms. Baumbach is an active trial lawyer and has many years of experience representing clients throughout Pennsylvania. She handles cases from the initial filing of a claim through the appellate process and settlement. Ms. Baumbach has had a workers’ compensation case summary published by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Pennsylvania Administrative Law Journal. She also has lectured on the topic of workers’ compensation statewide. Ms. Baumbach is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Dauphin County Bar Association, for which she served as chair in 2012 and 2016, as well as the Cumberland County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. She was appointed to the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Certificaion Committee from 2019 – present. She was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine in 2011-2013 and a Super Lawyer in 2014-2022.
Joshua Gray Esq.
Joshua Gray devotes his practice to the defense of workers’ compensation matters on behalf of insurance carriers, self-insured entities and third-party administrators. Mr. Gray, the managing partner of Chartwell Law’s Harrisburg office, has been recognized by the legal community by being selected to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® list since 2017 and the Pennsylvania Rising Stars® list in 2006 and again in 2010-2016, for the practice area of workers’ compensation. In addition to providing legal advice and representation for his clients, Mr. Gray has given multiple presentations on workers’ compensation claims handling and exposure reduction, as well as the impact of changing case law on employers and insurers. Mr. Gray has served several years as Workers’ Compensation Section Chair for the Dauphin County Bar Association. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Dauphin County Bar Associations. Mr. Gray is a graduate of Ohio Northern School of Law (J.D.) and St. Vincent College (B.S.)
Andrew Klaber Esq.
Mr. Klaber is a
graduate of Bucknell University and the University Of Pittsburgh School Of
Law. He began his career in Philadelphia with the law offices of Rawle
& Henderson where he concentrated his practice in the representation
of employers in both state Workers’ Compensation and maritime statutes. He
has frequently served as lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and
national organizations dedicated to the study of business representation. Mr.
Klaber returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh in 1996. Mr. Klaber left
private practice in 2000 and accepted a position of Vice President and
General Counsel for Blue Hammock, Inc., a CRM technology firm serving Fortune
500 companies throughout the United States. He currently practices with the Chartwell
Law Offices, LLP and serves as managing partner of their Pittsburgh offices.
As a result of his years in private practice, and hands-on experience in
launching new business ventures, Mr. Klaber has acquired significant
practical experience in counseling clients during their growth phases. In
addition to general business counseling and representation in litigation
matters, Mr. Klaber provides guidance with regard to acquisition strategies,
financing alternatives, and risk management.
Hon. Todd B. Seelig
Judge Todd B. Seelig has served as a Workers’ Compensation Judge for the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania since 1996. He sits in the Philadelphia District. Judge Seelig is a member
of the faculty of Villanova University School of Law, as an Adjunct Professor of Law, where
he earned his J.D. He is the current co-editor of the treatise, Barbieri, Pennsylvania Workers’
Compensation. In 2003, Judge Seelig was elected and served as the chair of the Pennsylvania
Bar Association, YLD. Judge Seelig is a past member of the Board of Governors of the
Pennsylvania Bar Association. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s
Workers’ Compensation Section Council. Judge Seelig is a Lifetime Fellow of the
Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. Judge Seelig served as president of the Pennsylvania
Workers’ Compensation Judges Professional Association from 2003-2007. He is a former cochair
of the Philadelphia Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section and currently
serves on the Executive Committee. Judge Seelig is a past chair of the American Bar
Association’s Workers’ Compensation and Employer’s Liability Committee of the Tort Trial
and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). He currently serves on the editorial board of The
Brief, a quarterly magazine for TIPS.
Maureen Cassidy, Esq.
Maureen “Morty” Cassidy is an Attorney with Banks Law and has practiced extensively in
the area of workers’ compensation. In 2023, she expanded her practice to include Veterans
Benefits, as an Accredited VA representative, and Social Security Disability Law. She earned
her bachelor’s degree from Penn State University followed by her law degree from Widener
University. Ms. Cassidy is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar, Pennsylvania, and
Philadelphia Bar Associations. She is a member of the Board of Governors of the
Pennsylvania Association for Justice and has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America
by U.S. News and World Report. Since 2019, Ms. Cassidy has served as a Hearing Committee
Member for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Ms. Cassidy has
published numerous articles in The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia Law Weekly and
Pennsylvania Self Insured Association newsletter. Ms. Cassidy was born and raised in
Delaware County and hails from a union background. Her mother was a unionized teacher
and her father was a member of International Association of Machinists prior to retirement.
She began her legal career as an intern in the violence and sexual assault unit for the
Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where she interviewed and prepared witnesses and
victims for trial. Her commitment to assisting women who are victims of abuse led her to
become a former member of the development committee as a volunteer for Women Against
Abuse. She also held a legal externship for the Honorable Ann A. Osborne in the Delaware
County Court of Common Pleas. She has been continuously active in the workers’
compensation arena, serving as the former Young Lawyers Division liaison for the
Philadelphia Bar Associations’ Workers’ Compensation Section and was also a member of
The Judge Alexander F. Barbieri Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court. In addition to
regularly attending legal education seminars, Ms. Cassidy has published numerous articles
and taught several Continuing Education Classes (CLE) on various topics of Workers’
Compensation Law. She has represented thousands of Claimant’s in pursuit of their rights
and remedies under the PA Workers’ Compensation Act, bringing hundreds of cases from
trial to verdict. Ms. Cassidy’s passion for workers’ compensation stems from her family’s
history and personal understanding of the importance of having an advocate in your corner
during a difficult time. She understands what workers’ compensation benefits can mean to a
family and looks forward to continuing her representation of injured workers and disabled
veterans and protecting their rights.
Tiffany Holland, AIC
Tiffany Holland is a CSO Team Leader for Inservco Insurance Services, Inc. She has over 32
years’ experience in the insurance industry. She has excelled as a leader by developing highly
qualified motivated individuals. Her knowledge spans multiple jurisdictions including CA,
NJ, NY, DE, MD, VA, DC, and PA. Tiffany has worked for carriers, as well as third party
administrators, and has vast insight into the intricacies of various Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania State Fund accounts. She was instrumental in the development of the
Uninsured Employers’ Guaranty Fund in 2007. Tiffany began supervising the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Catastrophic Loss Auto Fund in 2019. Her responsibilities
involve the supervision and technical guidance of Claims Representatives, Claims Associates,
and Technical Specialists. Tiffany works closely with accounts to develop strategies to
prevent and/or reduce the reserve exposures on claims utilizing claims management tools.
Nariman P. Dastur, Esq.
Nariman P. Dastur is an attorney with Carpenter, McCadden and Lane in Wexford, PA. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section having served as its Chair for the 2021-22 term. He has also served as a Proofer/Editor for their Workers’ Compensation Newsletter since 2002. In addition, he is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, serving on their Workers’ Compensation Section Counsel including as Chair for the 2009-2010 term. Mr. Dastur received his B.A. from Westminster College and his J.D. from Case Western University School of Law. His practice is devoted exclusively to the workers’ compensation litigation. He was among the first to be certified as a workers’ compensation specialist in Pennsylvania, having met the requirements and passing a comprehensive exam in 2013. In 2020, he was elected a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. Mr. Dastur is a frequent course planner and lecturer for PBI including its Fall Section Meeting, Tough Problems in Workers’ Compensation and Handling the Workers’ Compensation programs. Mr. Dastur has also served on the Board of Directors of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania since 2016.
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