state of california division of workers’ compensationlegal purposes, including workers’...

Serving the People of California Since 1911.

State of California Division of Workers’ Compensation

27th Annual Educational Conference

Los Angeles Airport Marriott March 26-27, 2020

In association with the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation, a non-profit corporation dedicated to workers’ compensation outreach and education

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR

GOLD SPONSORS

Division of Workers’ Compensation Serving the People of California Since 1911.

Conference Materials Use the following instructions to access materials on the app.


Conference at a Glance

Day 1

9:30 AM to 12:30 PM Registration

12:30 PM to 1:00 PM Welcoming Remarks

1:00 PM to 4:30 PM Breakout Sessions

4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Reception (no-host bar)

Day 2

7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast

8:30 AM to 12:00 PM Breakout Sessions

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Lunch and Kids’ Chance Presentation

1:15 PM to 3:30 PM Breakout Sessions

Continuing Education Unit (CEU) Credits

are available at the registration counter

This conference is held in cooperation with the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation, a non-profit organization.


Day 1 Breakout I Marquis 1-2-3

Breakout II Marquis 4-5-6

Breakout III Aviation

Breakout IV Imperial D-E-F

9:30 AM -12:30 PM Registration – Los Angeles 1 Hall

12:30 - 1:00 PM

Welcoming/opening presentation – Marquis Ballroom Administrative Director George Parisotto

1:00 - 2:00 PM

DWC Update

George Parisotto

& Yvonne Hauscarriague

Case Studies in PD

Rating

Barry Knight

Case Law Update I

Mark Kahn & Paige Levy

2020 Trending Topics in Audit

Christina Fenimore,

Ilene Howard Mark Skarakis,

& Monserrat Morita

2:15 - 3:15 PM

Effects of AB 5:

Employee vs Independent Contractor

Eric Ledger

& Robert Rassp

MTUS Update:

Guidelines, Formulary, & Website

John Cortes, Ray Meister,

Joe Guerriero, & Lucy Shannon

Case Law Update II

Mark Kahn

& Paige Levy

Jeopardy

Ellen Sims Langille

& Saul Allweiss

3:30 - 4:30 PM

UR Rules, Process, &

Investigations

George Parisotto & River Sung

Top Trial Tips

Colleen Casey,

David Lauerman, & Theresa Da Silva

Apportionment

Ray Correio

Medical Technology

in Workers’ Compensation

Constantine Gean & William Zachry

4:30 - 5:30 PM Reception – Imperial A-B-C – No Host Bar

Agenda March 26, 2020


Day 2 Breakout I Marquis 1-2-3

Breakout II Marquis 4-5-6

Breakout III Aviation

Breakout IV Imperial D-E-F

7:30-8:30AM Continental Breakfast – Imperial A-B-C

8:30-9:30 AM

Legal Ethics

Jamie Spitzer

Steven Siemers, & W. Kearse McGill

Case Studies in PD

Rating

Barry Knight

Women in Law &

Business

Nikki M. Jacobson, Paige Levy,

& Yvonne Lang

Medical School for Claims Examiners

and Attorneys

Steven Feinberg

9:45-10:45 AM

Violence in the Workplace

Anita Ahuja Dana Kirby,

Kriste Gibson, & Theresa Lowe

View from the 9th Floor: WCAB

Katherine Zalewski, Marguerite Sweeney, Craig Snellings, Jose Razo, & Anne Schmitz

Medical Technology in Workers’

Compensation

William Zachry

Chronic Pain and Opioids

Steven Feinberg,

Aimee Boggs, Jake Reason,

& Douglas Benner

11:00AM-12:00 PM

Pacific 2-3 Pacific 4-5 Case Law Update I

Mark Kahn

& Paige Levy

Improving Treatment: Tips from the Medical

Directors

Rajiv Das, Ray Meister,

Rupali Das, & Steven Wiesner

Apportionment

Ray Correio

Effects of AB 5: Employee vs Independent Contractor

Eric Ledger

& Robert Rassp

12:00-1:00 PM LUNCH – Marquis Ballroom – Kids’ Chance Presentation

1:15-2:15 PM

Jeopardy

Alex Swedlow & Mark Priven

UR Rules, Process, & Investigations

George Parisotto

& River Sung

Case Law Update II

Mark Kahn & Paige Levy

Top Trial Tips

Colleen Casey, Jamie Spitzer,

& Pamela Pulley

2:30-3:30 PM

Anti- Fraud Unit

Anna Kathryn Benedict

DOSH: Injury Prevention

Dan Leiner

EAMS Panel

George Parisotto & Paige Levy

Agenda March 27, 2020


Los Angeles Airport Marriott

Division of Workers’ Compensation Division of Workers’ Compensation

Breakout Sessions

2020 Trending Topics in Audit

This segment covers changes to the audit complaint process; Civil Penalty investigations and audits, including how these are different from regular PAR audits; and reviews how to correctly calculate the Average Weekly Wage.

Anti-Fraud Unit Workers’ compensation fraud costs California billions each year. This session provides an overview of what California workers’ compensation professionals need to know regarding the role of the Anti-Fraud Unit at the Department of Industrial Relations in working to prevent and detect workers’ compensation fraud, including health care providers billing for services never performed, employers underreporting payroll, and attorneys or claims adjusters facilitating fraud.

Apportionment Legislative update regarding evolving case law under Hikida, apportionment to risk factors, and significant new apportionment cases.

Case Law Update I & II

Attendees will be able to determine trends in workers’ compensation law, learn how important workers’ compensation cases affect day-to-day legal practice, and identify methods to better evaluate a case when appearing at the WCAB based on current and up to date case law.

Case Studies in Permanent Disability

Staff from the Disability Evaluation Unit discuss three different case studies on rating with a mixture of both basic and advanced rating topics. One case addresses methods for rating the spine, both DRE and range of motion method and criteria for the use of the ROM Method. Another case addresses rating visual impairment. A third addresses rating lower extremity impairment, including a joint replacement and an ankylosed joint.

Chronic Pain and Opioids

Attendees will have a better understanding of how utilization review currently interprets the MTUS guidelines in regards to chronic pain and the prescribing of opioids while recognizing the current rationale as well. The session will also cover the impact of medications on the Medicare Set-Aside process and overall claim costs, along with some intervention strategies that can be used to help manage claims where opioids are being prescribed.

DOSH: Injury Illness Prevention Program

After this panel, participants will be able to describe the eight elements of an Injury Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), how to perform an IIPP assessment, and how to develop or improve their IIPP.

DWC Update A broad overview of the division’s upcoming regulations, forms, and processes, as well as the status of recently adopted rules and regulations.

EAMS Panel By now it is well known that DWC is working to upgrade its computer systems. This session is structured as a listening panel for DWC to receive feedback from all stakeholders on what they would like to see for the new system. The Administrative Director, Chief Judge, and Chief Information Officer will be here to hear your thoughts, ideas, and “wish list” that will help make the next incarnation of the EAMS system best serve the workers’ compensation community.


Breakout Sessions

Effects of AB 5: Employee vs. Independent Contractor

This segment will provide an overview of how California workers’ compensation is affected by the new California statute, effective 1/1/2020, codifying the landmark state Supreme Court decision, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. vs. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The law provides that most workers are employees for most legal purposes, including workers’ compensation benefits not available to independent contractors, and places the burden of proof on the hiring entity to classify an individual as an independent contractor.

Improving Treatment: Tips from the Medical Directors

The presentation will consist of short topic/case scenario presentations followed by group discussion. Application and efficacy of Evidence-Based Medicine in assessing and treating work related injuries. MTUS and UR: How do you provide effective treatment? Tactics for the claims professional to communicate with health care providers using the MTUS to guide interactions. Strategies and tactics to make California’s workers’ comp system even more effective

Jeopardy This session will help you understand emerging claims trends in California workers’ compensation and how those trends compare, which may affect current and older accident years, as well as to recognize how California workers’ compensation legislative and regulatory changes have performed. This session will also provide attendees with the skills to recognize how upcoming statutory and regulatory issues may impact statewide performance.

Legal Ethics Practical tips for attorneys, including how to avoid conflicts of interest and ex parte communication. The panel will address attorney behavior that may give rise to or may be partly responsible for demeanor infractions alleged by litigants before the WCAB, and reference applicable provisions of the California Rules of Professional Conduct (State Bar) as approved by the State Supreme Court, the State Bar Act (B&P§6000 et seq.), and California Rules of Court (CRC) - Title 9, Rules on Law Practice, Attorneys, and Judges.

Medical School for Claims Examiners and Attorneys

This segment focuses on understanding medical terminology, conditions, and diagnoses. Additionally, attendees will learn to identify anatomical landmarks associated with medical conditions and achieve better communication with doctors by understanding the medical conditions.

Medical Technology in Workers’ Compensation

A review for California workers’ compensation professionals of how workers’ compensation claims will be affected by rapidly evolving medical technology. Describes the potential for good and harmful effects and the likelihood of unintended consequences (both good and bad). Covers diagnosis, causation, treatment, disability and disability mitigation, and injury prevention.

Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) Update: Use of the Guidelines, Formulary, & Website

Learn about the latest updates and changes to the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule, including regulation changes and proposed regulation changes. Learn the latest on the MTUS Guidelines, Formulary, and see a guided tour of some of the online tools that can assist with using MTUS.

Top Trial Tips Knowledge of the legal basics is mandatory for all workers’ compensation professionals. However, it is the little known Labor Code Sections, case law, and regulations that often prove fatal for a party’s success at trial. In this program, a panel of local judges will propose tips and best practices for avoiding these legal glitches. The speakers will also offer insight and advice as to current trends in the law that will immediately impact future litigation tactics in our community.


Breakout Sessions

UR Rules, Process, & Investigations

For industry to familiarize themselves with the upcoming utilization review regulations and their practical impact on UR through hypothetical scenarios. The changes will or may also peripherally impact the following systems: MPN, physician reporting, MTUS, and IMR.

View from the 9th Floor: WCAB

This always popular session will cover petitions for reconsiderations, sanctions, and other areas of recurrent problems and issues.

Violence in the Workplace

In this session, you will learn about trauma-informed models, how to create a claims administrator workplace violence and/or disaster response kit, along with understanding why some of the usual workers’ compensation approaches don’t work and suggested solutions.

Women in Law & Business

Attendees will learn the current state of gender equality in the United States and worldwide, see how our inherent biases impact hiring practices and how to spot them when making hiring decisions, how to recognize these issues when applying for jobs or promotions, and what to do to more successfully navigate the legal and corporate landscape.


Meet the Speakers Anita Ahuja serves as Manager for Mass Violence Response and Ombudsperson for Crime Victims with the California Victim Compensation Board in Sacramento. She is currently focused on mass violence emergency response planning and assisting with meeting the short- and long-term needs of victims of mass violence in California. Her experience includes managing federal crisis response grants, support groups and victim services for September 11th victims in California. She worked extensively with the California September 11th victims for several years, facilitating support groups in Northern and Southern California and coordinating resources nationwide. She also manages federal grants from the Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program in the federal Office for Victims of Crime to assist the victims of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino and the victims of the 2017 shooting in Las Vegas. She is currently assisting the victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting. Saul Allweiss has been involved in the California workers’ compensation community for over thirty years. He has worked as an examiner, supervisor, and hearing representative, and since 1993 has worked as an attorney. Saul received his BA from the University of Illinois and his JD from the University of Laverne. Saul owns a defense practice in the San Fernando Valley.

Anna Kathryn Benedict is the Senior Counsel in the Office of the Director’s Anti-Fraud Unit. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School. Prior to coming to DIR, Anna Kathryn worked for the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento as an attorney in the Office of Enforcement.

Douglas Benner, MD, FACOEM, MPH, brings a wealth of experience as E.K. Health Services’ Chief Medical Officer and over 30 years as Coordinator of Occupational Health for Northern California Kaiser Permanente. Previously named among “The Most Influential People in California Workers’ Compensation,” Dr. Benner is a diplomat of the American Board of Preventative Medicine in Occupational Medicine and was certified as an Independent Medical Examiner and Medical Review Officer. Dr. Benner works with E.K. Health’s leadership team in the development of the company’s managed care programs, responsible for recruiting, training and supervising all Physician Reviewers, and providing oversight of managed care policies and procedures.

Aimee Boggs, RN, MSHI, CPHIMS has over 12 years of experience in the workers’ compensation and managed care industries and over 15 years of experience in nursing. Before her current role as Director of Specialty Programs at E.K. Health Services, Aimee worked in various case management leadership roles, including Manager of Case Management Continuum, Manager of Nursing/Managed Care, and Senior Managed Care Specialist. Before progressing to these leadership roles, she developed a solid foundation for nursing and clinical case management as a Clinical Nurse and Case Manager. Aimee is a Registered Nurse (RN) and has earned an MS, Health Informatics from the University of South Florida, and a BS, Nursing from the same institution. She also earned an Associate Degree in Nursing from South Georgia College. Colleen Casey has a BA degree from the University of California Berkeley and JD from Golden Gate University. Her career in workers’ compensation began in 1995 as a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Commissioner. In 2002, she entered private practice and returned to the state in 2004 as a Workers’ Compensation Judge in San Francisco. She is a frequent speaker at various workers’ compensation gatherings throughout the state. Raymond F. Correio is a senior associate with the defense firm of Pearlman, Brown & Wax. Before joining the firm, Ray was a workers’ compensation judge for twelve years and was assigned to both the Santa Monica and


Marina Del Rey District Offices. He was named defense attorney of the year by the Workers’ Compensation Section of the State Bar in 2013. He is often an invited speaker at various workers’ compensation forums and seminars. John Cortes has a BA and JD from the University of California, Davis. He started his legal career in private practice before beginning his workers’ compensation career with State Compensation Insurance Fund as a subrogation attorney from 2001 to 2012. He transferred to the DIR/DWC as an Industrial Relations Counsel in the Spring of 2012. Therese da Silva was appointed a Workers’ Compensation Judge in March of 2012. Prior to this, she worked as a trial attorney for the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Before entering the field of workers’ compensation, she worked as an attorney in the area of labor and employment for ten years. She has a BA from the University of California Berkeley and earned her JD from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. Rajiv Das, MD, MPH, has been the Medical Director for Safeway/VONS/Albertsons Risk Management Department for the past three years. Before this, he served as the Medical Director for the City of San Jose as well as its Police/Fire/Federated Retirement Boards for over 12 years. He is certified by the ABMS in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a subspecialty in Pain Medicine. He is also qualified as a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provider and a Medical Review Officer. He works closely with adjusters, nurse case managers, and safety personnel. He has a special interest in utilization review, maximizing functional outcomes by the provision of evidence-based medicine as well as the ethical and appropriate application of software and hardware technology in clinical medicine. Rupali Das, MD, MPH is Senior Vice President and California Medical Director at Zenith Insurance Company. She previously served as the Executive Medical Director of the California Division of Workers’ Compensation. Dr. Das received her MD from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and her MA in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She has been in clinical practice and also held leadership positions at California EPA and the California Department of Public Health, where she led innovative statewide occupational and environmental health programs to track, investigate, and prevent occupational and environmental illnesses. Dr. Das is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and on the Board of Directors of the Western Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association. Steven D. Feinberg, MD, is a native of New York City and received his BA and MPH from UCLA, his MD from UC Irvine, and his MS in Rehabilitation Medicine from the University of Washington. He is often used as an AME from his Palo Alto medical practice. He has received numerous professional awards, is a member of many medical societies and committees, and is the author or co-author of many publications. Christina Fenimore, CPCU, has a BA and MPA from Cal State Northridge and currently works in the DWC Audit and Enforcement Unit as the Workers’ Compensation Compliance Manager. She has worked at DWC Audit and Enforcement Unit for three years. She previously worked at the California Department of Insurance for five years in insurance regulation and compliance for multiple lines of insurance specializing in workers’ compensation insurance. She also worked many years at State Fund for underwriting, marketing, and auditing roles.


Constantine Gean, MD, is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine, on voluntary faculty in the Department of Medicine at UC Irvine, and a Regional Medical Director for Liberty Mutual. He is the lead author of The Pocket Drug Guide and The Index of Prescription Drugs, is Chair of the ACOEM Council on Education and Academic Affairs, and is a past president of the Western Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association (WOEMA). Nick Gleiter is an Area Manager with Cal/OSHA’s Consultation Services Unit in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is formerly the District Manager of the Oakland Enforcement office, where he oversaw thousands of cases, and before that, an Industrial Hygienist and Safety Engineer who investigated hundreds of accidents, complaints, and referrals from outside agencies in southern and northern California. He received his MS in Safety and Health from the University of Southern California and has been a Certified Industrial Hygienist since 2002. He is a lifelong learner and supplements his studies with seminars, retreats, and stacks of non-fiction books. Joseph Guerriero is the Senior Vice President of ReedGroup’s MDGuidelines™ division. Mr. Guerriero joined ReedGroup in 2014, bringing over 20 years of experience in the healthcare media and data industries as well as digital publishing. Mr. Guerriero’s expertise with healthcare industry content and data stems from his leadership roles spearheading several programs that are still in place at Modern Healthcare, Modern Physician, and HealthLeaders. Before joining ReedGroup’s executive team, Mr. Guerriero was Vice President at Eagle Publishing, where he ran the company’s digital media and fund-raising platforms. He also has previous experience leading several brand and marketing teams during his time at Billboard and Success Media. Yvonne Hauscarriague has a BA degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a JD from the University of San Francisco. After working in private practice as a civil litigation attorney, she began her workers’ compensation career with State Compensation Insurance Fund serving as a defense attorney from 2005 to 2011 and an assistant chief counsel from 2011 to 2013. She transferred to DWC as an Industrial Relations Counsel in late 2013. Ilene Howard is the Civil Penalty Supervisor for the Audit Unit. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She has 25 years of workers’ compensation experience. Her state career began at State Compensation Insurance Fund as a claims adjuster. She joined the Division of Workers’ Compensation in 1997 as a Workers’ Compensation Consult at the UEBTF. Nikki Mehrpoo Jacobson has advocated for California injured workers and immigrants from all over the world. Ms. Jacobson began her legal career in 1997 after earning her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. Los Angeles Magazine, Super Lawyers, Avvo.com, and Martindale Hubbell have recognized her for legal knowledge and experience. She is also a Professor of Law at West Los Angeles College. Mark Kahn graduated from Cal State Northridge (BA) and Southwestern Law School (JD). He began his workers’ compensation career as a State Fund attorney in 1978. He has been a DWC Workers’ Compensation Judge (1981), Presiding Judge (1988), Assistant Chief (1992-1995), and Associate Chief Judge. Mark retired from the bench in 2012 and now works for Altman, Lunche & Blitstein. Dana Kirby is currently a Major Claims Manager for State Compensation Insurance Fund. She started her career with State Fund in 2001 and worked in a variety of positions, including both policy and state contract claims. She obtained a degree in Sociology under the Social Work Track with a minor in Gerontology. Dana’s educational background and claims handling experience have allowed her to foster an environment for her team to support and partner with those who are catastrophically injured for the best possible outcomes.


Barry Knight has been the Disability Unit Manager since 2010. He joined the Disability Evaluation Unit in 1990, working as a Rater and Regional Supervisor, working at the Fresno WCAB for 16 years and the Bakersfield WCAB for 11 years. Barry currently works at the San Luis Obispo office, overseeing the DEU raters in 22 offices statewide. Barry graduated from Fresno State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. His experience includes work as a commercial lines underwriter for two insurance carriers and as a claims adjuster for State Compensation Insurance Fund. He also was on the Schedule Revision Committee for both the 1997 and 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedules. Yvonne Lang is a partner with Pearlman, Brown & Wax, LLP specializing in the defense of workers’ compensation claims. Yvonne graduated from the University of California at Irvine (BA) in Political Science. She obtained her JD from the University of La Verne College of Law. She worked as a fraud investigator and assisted the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Los Angeles and Ventura County DA offices with the successful prosecution of doctors in the “What’s Up Doc?” sting. Ellen Sims Langille is General Counsel for the CWCI, managing the legal affairs of the Institute and directing the Institute’s amicus and regulatory training activities. A certified specialist in workers’ compensation, Ms. Langille spent 25 years as a workers’ compensation defense attorney at Finnegan Marks in San Francisco, working primarily with appellate-level cases. She received a double major undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and her law degree from UC Hastings. David Lauerman graduated from Santa Clara University in 1979 with a BA in History, then attended Washington College of Law (American University) and obtained a JD in 1982. He was admitted to the California bar in 1983, and practiced worker’s compensation law as an applicant’s attorney from 1984 until 2004. David became a WCJ at the San Jose board in 2004, and has held that position ever since. David is married (since 1979) and has three children. He has also been a Buffalo Bills fan since 1962, and believes that Blade Runner is the greatest motion picture ever made. Eric Ledger is a Workers’ Compensation Judge at the Oakland district office. Before becoming a judge, he worked as Industrial Relations Counsel with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Office of the Commissioners. Before working for the appeals board, Judge Ledger worked as an applicant’s attorney in Sacramento. He is currently vice-chair of the State Bar of California Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee for which he also co-chairs the education sub-committee. Dan Leiner is currently the Area Manager of the San Fernando Valley Cal/OSHA Consultation Services office in Van Nuys. He started his career with Cal/OSHA in 1994 as an industrial hygiene consultant with Cal/OSHA Consultation’s Santa Fe Springs area office before becoming an Area Manager in 2000. Dan was an instructor with California State University, Dominguez Hills’ certificate program in Environmental, Safety, and Health and with their OSHA Training Institute Education Center before joining the University of California, San Diego’s OSHA Training Institute Education Center. He has almost 30 years of experience in the health and safety field as an industrial hygienist working in the aerospace industry, on a Los Angeles County lead-using industry outreach project, and with Cal/OSHA Consultation. Dan holds a BA and MS in Environmental and Occupational Health from California State University, Northridge. Paige Levy is the Chief Judge of the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Before this appointment, she was a Workers’ Compensation Judge (2005) and Presiding Judge (2012) at the Marina Del Rey district office. She was Chair of the Workers’ Compensation State Bar Executive Committee for the 2013-2014 term and served on the


committee for five years. Over the past fifteen years, she has spoken on numerous topics, including the application of the AMA Guides, case law update, utilization review, WCAB policy and procedure, ethics, specialization exam prep, liens, and litigation tips for attorneys. She is a regular presenter for the Division of Workers’ Compensation case law update and recently launched the newly formed women’s panel for the division. Judge Levy was the 2013 California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA) Judge of the Year, the 2012 WorkCompCentral Magna Comp Laude Award Winner, a 2014 DWC Employee of the Year recipient, the State Bar Workers’ Compensation Section Judge of the Year in 2016, and the LatinoComp Judge of the Year in 2019. She became a certified workers’ compensation specialist in 2000. Before taking the bench, Paige was the managing partner of Levy & Associates. She received her undergraduate degree in pre-law from San Diego State University, and her JD degree from Whittier Law School in 1994, where she graduated with honors. Theresa Lowe currently serves as the Medical Case Manager with CompAlliance and the lead Registered Nurse with State Fund for over five years, primarily with catastrophic/major claims. Theresa holds a Bachelors in Nursing along with CCM accreditation. W. Kearse McGill graduated from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1991. For ten years, Judge McGill worked as both applicant counsel and defense counsel before becoming a workers’ compensation judge at the WCAB Stockton District Office on May 2, 2005. In 2015, Judge McGill was appointed by the California Supreme Court as a trial judge to the California State Bar Court, the nation’s only full-time trial and appellate court system that exclusively handles attorney discipline cases. In 2016, Judge McGill was elevated to the position of appellate judge by the California Supreme Court. Judge McGill is also an adjunct professor of law at Humphrey’s College, Laurence Drivon School of Law, and an advisor to the Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee for the State Bar of California. Ray Meister, MD, has served as executive medical director for DWC since June 2016 and was an associate medical director since 2014. Before joining DWC, he served as a public health medical officer at the California Department of Public Health, Occupational Health Branch, from 2000 to 2014. Ray is boarded in Occupational Medicine and has been a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco, since 1998, where he is currently an associate clinical professor. Monserrat R. Morita is the Southern California Supervisor for the Audit Unit. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, she has 24 years of experience in workers’ compensation. Her state career began in 2001 at State Compensation Insurance Fund as a Claims Adjuster. She transferred to the Audit Unit in June 2006. George Parisotto is the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. George joined DWC as a staff counsel in 1998 and later rejoined the Division in 2007 after spending several years in Seattle, Washington, with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. Mark Priven has worked as an actuary for 20 years, the last 15 with Bickmore, helping public and private self-insurers quantify and analyze their risk. He is on the WCIRB actuarial committee, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, past-president of Casualty Actuaries of the Bay Area. He has testified many times before committees in Sacramento. Pamela Pulley graduated from Northwestern University in 1987 with dual BA degrees and earned a JD from the University Of Connecticut School Of Law in 1990. She practiced law from 1990 until 2005, representing workers’


compensation applicants, insurance carriers, and social security disability claimants. She became a Workers’ Compensation Judge in Long Beach in 2005 and Presiding Judge in Santa Ana in 2015. Robert Rassp is a graduate of Loyola Law School class of 1981. He previously earned two undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Irvine in 1978 at age 20.While practicing law as an attorney, Judge Rassp handled workers’ compensation and Social Security disability cases since 1981 and was the principal of his own law firm from 1983 until April 15, 2018. In 2017, Judge Rassp was appointed as an adjunct professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California teaching workers’ compensation law as an upper division class. On April 16, 2018, Judge Rassp was appointed as a workers’ compensation administrative law judge and assigned to the Los Angeles WCAB District office. On January 2, 2020, Judge Rassp was appointed as the Presiding Judge at the WCAB Los Angeles District Office. Judge Rassp is the author of The Lawyer’s Guide To The AMA Guides and California Workers’ Compensation (LexisNexis® Matthew Bender), a widely used medical-legal treatise updated every year since its first edition in 2006. He is the editor-in-chief of the two-volume treatise, Rassp & Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Law, Seventh Edition (LexisNexis), completely revised and updated in 2014, and annually thereafter. Most recently, Judge Rassp wrote the commentary to the new WCAB Rules of Practice and Procedure that went into effect in January 2020. Jose Razo was confirmed as a WCAB Commissioner in 2016. He received his BA from Stanford and JD from the University of San Diego School of Law. Jose has 34 years of experience in workers’ compensation as an applicant’s attorney and defense counsel (Laughlin, Falbo, Levy, & Moresi). He is an arbitrator for the San Mateo County Bar and served in small claims court and municipal court in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The Seattle Mariners drafted his son, Orlando, in 2017. Jake Reason has spent almost ten years working in the workers’ compensation industry with a primary focus on Medicare Set-Asides and Medical Cost Projections, most recently as E.K. Health Services’ Vice President of MSA Services. That experience has yielded a keen understanding of the settlement process for workers’ compensation claims and the potential pitfalls which, if not adequately managed, can derail settlements. Skilled at determining customer needs and devising personalized solutions, Jake has successfully run large-scale departments/operations with responsibility for over $20 million in revenue and has designed technical/workflow guidelines for high volume Medicare Set-Aside operations. Anne Schmitz joined the WCAB Office of Commissioners in 2010 and is a Deputy Commissioner. She was a claims adjuster, defense attorney, applicant’s attorney, and pro tem judge in the Bay Area. Anne received her undergraduate degree from UC Davis and her JD from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1993. Lucy Shannon, Director of Editorial Research and Development, drives the content research and development behind ReedGroup’s web-based health and productivity toolkit, MDGuidelines®. She is responsible for content and data initiatives within the Guidelines business, including the integration of data and creation of content on occupational health, clinical practice guidelines, medical and statutory return-to-work considerations, and predictive and preventive recommendations. Ms. Shannon has 19 years of experience with ReedGroup and holds a BS. from the University of Oregon. Steven Siemers graduated from California State University at Chico and New College of California School of Law. Admitted to the State Bar in 1980, he is a former Chief Judge at the Division of Workers’ Compensation, and he is the principal of Steven Siemers Dispute Resolution, LLC, specializing in mediation and arbitration primarily in the field of workers’ compensation.


Mark Skarakis is a graduate of San Diego State University. His state service began as an EDD hearing representative. His DWC career has included stints as a UEF claims adjuster (1996-1998), Audit Unit compliance officer (1998-2002), SCIF adjuster (2002-2004), before rejoining the Audit Unit in 2004 where he currently works. Craig Snellings was appointed to the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board by Governor Brown. Before his appointment, Mr. Snellings worked for various defense firms: Farmers Insurance; Shaw, Jacobsmeyer, Crain & Claffey; Mullen & Filippi; Adleson, Testan, Brundo, Novell & Jimenez; and State Compensation Insurance Fund. He earned his JD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Jamie Spitzer is Presiding Judge of the Anaheim district office of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, where she worked as a judge from 2005 to 2012. Judge Spitzer’s law career began in 1992, as an attorney and later partner with Ufkes, Bright & Spitzer. A graduate of Cal State Fullerton, she earned her law degree at Whittier College. River Sung is staff counsel for the Division of Workers’ Compensation, where she assists and advises on various issues relating primarily to medical treatment within the workers’ compensation system. She has a BA from the University of Hawaii and obtained her law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Her experience in workers’ compensation began in 2012 after working for several years as a healthcare attorney in both the private and public sectors. In her spare time, she enjoys crafting, reading, and, most recently, tinkering with the ukulele. Alex Swedlow serves as President of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (www.cwci.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the operation of the California workers’ compensation system through research and education. Alex has over 25 years of experience in health services research, public policy analysis, and data development and has published numerous research studies in the areas of managed medical and disability systems, evidence-based medicine, pharmaceutical utilization and the opioid epidemic, access to care, return-to-work and key performance indicators of California workers’ compensation reform. Marguerite Sweeney received a JD from Hastings Law School in 1978 and represented injured workers in northern California until 2012 when Governor Brown appointed her to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. In 2007, she was honored by the State Bar Workers Compensation Section as Applicant Attorney of the Year. Steven Wiesner, MD, has been with The Permanente Medical Group since 1994. He is the Northern California Kaiser Permanente On-the-Job (KPOJ) Medical Director for Workers’ Compensation Services, working closely with the Kaiser Permanente Occupational Health Sales and Account Management Team. Dr. Wiesner serves as the Medical Director for the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Health Care Organization (HCO), providing clinical oversight for utilization review and case management services. Dr. Wiesner is the Physician Advisor for the Kaiser Permanente National Integrated Disability Management (IDM) Program supporting the eight Kaiser Permanent regions in providing disability management education and clinical resources. He serves as the Assistant Physician-in-Chief of the Kaiser Permanente East Bay Medical Center, Physician Human Resource Department, and is the Chief of the East Bay Occupational Health Departments in Oakland and Richmond, California.

Dr. Wiesner obtained his MD from the University of Wisconsin and completed his internship and residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from Northwestern University Medical School/ The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois. Following the completion of his residency, he continued at Northwestern University Medical School as a faculty member and helped develop outpatient sports medicine and musculoskeletal clinics.


Dr. Wiesner is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and the California Medical Association. William (Bill) Zachry is known throughout the risk management industry as a champion of workers’ compensation reform. Previously Bill served as group vice president of risk management for Safeway, where his 15 years of leadership there earned him recognition as Business Insurance Risk Manager of the Year in 2014 and recipient of the California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation’s Tim East Award in 2016. Bill currently serves on the board of State Compensation Insurance Fund, and in 2017 he was awarded a senior fellowship at the Sedgwick Institute. Katherine Zalewski is Chair of the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. Ms. Zalewski was appointed to serve on the board by Governor Brown on April 30, 2014. Before her appointment, she was Chief Counsel for the Department of Industrial Relations and a Special Advisor for the DWC Administrative Director. She was a defense attorney for over 20 years and a Workers’ Compensation Judge in the San Francisco district office. Ms. Zalewski received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and her JD from Hastings College of the Law.

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