Ledgerwood Law Group • 1385 Ridgewood Dr. Ste 106, Chico, CA 95973 • Toll Free: 888-761-7383 • www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

No. 12

A monthly newsletter published by the Ledgerwood Law Group dedicated to the rights of injured workers, Social Security Disability claimants, food, travel, gardening, fishing, camping and life on the open road.

I have had the good fortune to represent a lot of really nice people over the years – thoughtful, hard working individuals that find themselves in a bad patch in life. Charlie Brown is one of those folks and a favorite client of mine. Years ago, he

had a horrible arm injury that put him out of the work force. He was a glass glazer; that was all he had done all his adult life and his right arm was completely blown up. He has given me permission to tell his cautionary tale so you or someone you know doesn’t make the same mistakes.

His injury was clearly industrial in nature. But he did all the wrong things to preserve his claim. He failed to file a DWC-1 form (first report of industrial injury) with his employer. Years went by and the car-rier predictably denied his claim. The medical evidence was so old and vague that the conservative med-legal doctor felt the condition was non-industrial. There were statute of limitations issues (failing to file a claim timely) with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). He waited dangerously long to develop a Social Security Disability claim.

Someone needed to find a solution for Charlie or he was going to be out in the street. Paralegal Christina Miller and I specialize in cases

September 2014

Few things are grosser than having a big hairy dog trot into your house dripping of skunk juice. There was a huge dustup be-tween our St. Bernard, Elsa, and a scrappy local this summer. We all lost.

Elsa, “The Guardian of Foxtail Lane,” is not the sharpest of tools in our canine shed. There was that $1700 rattle snake bite on her muzzle two years ago and a couple past skunk gassings that should’ve given her a hint. Nevertheless, I walked to my garden

Feather Falls has been in Butte County for about 140 million years. It is a great day hike. You will get a chance to see the Feather River Canyon in its pristine state before SR-70, the railroad and PG&E carved their way from the valley up to Quincy. This area is part of the “Federal Rivers Trust” and is a real treat if you like wilderness hikes. This is also a great cool weather hike. It is time for you to get your boots on and get off the couch! You just might catch some killer fall colors.

Earlier this year, my brother Jim and I blew into Oroville, got a couple

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Safe Harbor

Saving Charlie Brown

HarvestTragedy & Renaissance in the Butte Valley

“Earth Maker” Maidu Legends on the Trail to Feather Falls

2 • Ledgerwood Law Group • www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

“Saving Charlie Brown” continued from page 1.

like this. If you know what you’re doing, you can use the evidence culti-vated in a workers’ compensation claim to win a much larger benefit for your client with the Social Security Administration. These cases are the 800 lb. gorilla in a disability action that sometimes get overlooked and left undeveloped.

Predictably, we got hammered on Charlie’s workers’ compensation case. We knew that going in; it was not a surprise. But now we had a good banker’s box of powerful, probative medical evidence to play with, more than enough to prove up a much larger benefit on a federal level. For Charlie, it was a real bacon saver.

Beware of the statute. It would have been much better if he had a more viable workers’ compensation claim to fall back on. Here is what you need to understand when you have been injured on the job. You must a DWC-1 with your employer immediately or at least within thirty days after your injury. Many employers are completely spastic about claims, as it makes their insurance policies cost more. Some really discourage filing comp. claims. Don’t be intimidated. This happened to Charlie. By the time he got to us we officially had a cold case on our hands. The DWC-1 does a lot of magic things; it puts everyone on notice that you were injured on the job and really helps with avoiding confu-sion down the road.

In addition to filing a DWC-1, you must timely file an application with the WCAB. Not filing a DWC-1 will not prevent you from bringing a claim with the WCAB. However, you will have to rely on constructive notice to your employer of your injury, cross your fingers and boldly go forth with your application. Generally, this must be done within one year: 1) of the date of your injury, 2) the date your employer denied your case, or 3) if benefits have been provided by your employer (medical treatment, temporary disability, permanent disability etc.), within one year of the date of last provision of these benefits or, within five years of the date of your injury if you can demonstrate new and further disability.

The statute of limitations is a disfavored de-fense; judges don’t like it, and many exceptions apply. Any applicant’s attorney worth her salt can usually find a way around the statute problem, but filing promptly avoids that uncertainty. Also, please consider that there can be other cases that can be present in a compensation claim, such as the negligence of a third party causing your on-the-job injury, discrimi-nation cases and serious and willful claims against your employer. There is a raft of other remedies out there sometimes and they all have statutes of limitations. If you blow them, you are in serious trouble. If you are interested, you can go to our website and look them all up. You will find the extended version of this article in our workers’ compensation library (www.thomasledgerwood.com).

It was quite a moment at Charlie’s hearing when the Administrative Law judge said, “Mr. Brown, you are the poster child for the social safety net this country has” and awarded him an on-the-record, favor-able decision. Charlie had been without money for over a year. In the hallway, he gave me a big old bear hug, and I felt little droplets raining down on my shoulder. I knew how important this was to him--shucks, I got a little misty eyed, too. It was one of those rare and fleeting moments in a lawyer’s life when you understand you made the right career choice.

As to Charlie, he has a modest income coming in and has qualified for Medicare benefits under the Social Security system. We got him a lit-tle settlement on his comp. claim, but that is the way it goes sometimes. As always, Paralegal Miller had taken the evidence we had developed through his workers’ compensation claim, organized it, uploaded it to ODAR and prepared a superb case-winning brief. All Charlie and I needed to do was to show up and start talking. It was a great day!

Regards,Tom

after realizing something really bad happened and found big fistfuls of black and white skunk hair in a greasy spot by one of my beds. Eeeew.

I take my gardening very seriously. My personal style is French Pottager. My garden, therefore, is as much about fragrant flowers and herbs as it is vegetables. After the skunk battle, it smelled like one of the pungent pot grows that are popping up all over the Butte Valley nowadays.

However, that wasn’t the worst of it. Every few years there is a plague of locusts here in the Valley of biblical proportion. These rapa-cious insects literally eat the bark off the trees here on the bucolic slopes of Sausage Mountain. Sadly, the cycle has shortened down from five years to every year. It is kicking my gardening buttock. Walking into my plot this summer was like entering a swirling maelstrom of these vile hoppers. They denuded my heirlooms and then moved on to emasculate my hybrids. By the time they were finished, they had taken out two thirds of my crop.

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Ledgerwood Law Group • www.ThomasLedgerwood.com • 3

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sandwiches at the lo-cal Subway, hiked in and were out by 4:00 pm. We discovered that there were es-sentially two routes to Feather Falls off the main trail head: one is steeper, and the other is more of a mild incline. Being a couple of old guys, Jim and I chose the mild route. The trail was well maintained. It is about 4 feet wide composed primar-ily of decomposed granite.

The initial descent to the falls is on a slope with a northern exposure. It is a moist, riparian habitat culminat-ing in a very cool stream crossing a couple miles from the trail head. The second half of the descent was much drier and made me glad that we had plenty of water. I think the best time to do a hike like this would be during the spring, fall and winter.

The trip back was not so bad. Jim had the pace and agility of an Abrams tank. How a man a decade older than me can keep such a pace is beyond me. Jim is a po-litically conservative fellow. On the way down I made a point of showing him the lawyer’s botanical patron saint: “The Western Bleeding Heart.”

If you are looking for solitude, this is not the trail for you; we came across perhaps 20 to 30 people on the trail. There were lots of families with little ones strapped on bellies and backs. We came across a couple of mountain bikers (for all you folks that like mountain biking, this well-maintained path is the trail for you!). Bring bug repellant and lots of water.

About half way to the falls you will find Bald Rock Dome. This dome is part of a gigantic pluton formed millions of years ago that comprises the dome and the rock of Feather Falls. Maidu Indians called the dome Kodoyanpe or “Earth Maker.” There is some serious nat-ural history about the place. The dome was definitely the second coolest thing to see on the trail. Talk about a hunk of rock. It is definitely the El Capitan of the North State.

The Falls are really spectacular. There is a large wooden viewing platform to check them out (not a bad place to have lunch too). The hike was two hours down and two and one half hours out. It felt like about 9 miles; I slept well after the day’s exertions.

Here is how you get there: Drive to Oroville, turn east onto Oro Dam Blvd (CA-162). Go 1.8 miles then turn right onto Olive Highway (CA-162) and drive 6.6 miles. Turn right onto Forbsetown Road, go 6.2 miles and turn left on Lumpkin Road. Follow Lumpkin Road for an ad-ditional 11.6 miles and start looking for signs to get to the trailhead. There is a huge parking lot and vault toilets for your convenience.

Happy TrialsTom

1385 Ridgewood Drive Suite 106Chico, CA 95973Phone: 530-899-7178Toll Free: 888-761-7383www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

This publication is intended to educate the general public about Worker’s Compensation, Social Security Disability and other issues. It is for information purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. Prior to acting on any information contained here, you should seek and retain competent counsel. © LLG All Rights Reserved.

Ledgerwood Law Group • 1385 Ridgewood Dr. Ste 106, Chico, CA 95973 • Toll Free: 888-761-7383 • www.ThomasLedgerwood.com

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Saving Charlie Brown

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID CHICO, CA

PERMIT NO. 119

The good news is by the end of the July they were all dead of natural causes. Life is short, especially if you are a grasshopper. Trying to control them with pesticides or physical barriers it like trying to hold the tide back with a tea cup. I know, I have tried them all (although I had a great deal of success sucking gallons of grasshoppers off my plants with a shop vac with a nozzle made from ½” PVC duct taped to the end of the suction hose).

So this year I took a deep breath and just let it happen without a fight. Based on past experience, I knew what was in store for them. “Lie low in tall grass” – it works in the court room and in the garden. That was my plan. The bet paid off, as I am currently experiencing a tomato renaissance and a second wind for a lusty fall crop. Hey, there are always fried green tomatoes (see the October 2013 issue of Safe Harbor at: www.thomasledgerwood.com in the library/newsletter section).

The Law of the Harvest: I believe in abundance. I’m always looking for metaphors in my garden, and there is a big one here. I planted so many extra plants this year that before it was all said and done, I had still harvested at least 200 pounds of fine vine-ripened tomatoes. We had many tasty tomato based meals fresh from the garden. I gave most of them away to my pals. Next year however, I am putting my heirlooms in a green house.

My definition of summer is the makings for crispy bruschetta plucked off a fiery hot grill. In Roman times, the troops liked to take a slice of bread, slather it with olive oil, toast it over a fire and call it dinner. Over the centuries, clever Italians developed modern bruschetta by adding a slice of exquisitely vine ripened tomato, a leaf of minty basil, and a moist slice of fresh mozzarella with a pinch of salt. This is the classic formulation. Bruschetta is the Italian analog of sushi; there are endless variations.

Couple this with a frosty pint of Birra Moretti, and you have the appetizer that defines summer and the zenith of the tomato growing season. Well, we are now heading into fall. It was a great year and my plants are a cluster of green globes. I am hoping for a global warming/Indian

summer to bring most of them in, as I have serious plans before it really gets cold.Tom

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