If you are tired of being treated like a number, call The Law Offices of Melissa A. Day at (716) 616-0111
Anyone else annoyed by claimants who were directed to wean two years ago that now continually file PARs for opioids? We did it! We were successful in obtaining a finding that the claimant should be weaned off their opioid narcotics. In some cases, the treating...
Successfully arguing the influential case of Burns v. Varriale, 9 N.Y. 3d 207 (2007), has been the highlight of Melissa Day's career as an attorney. You can now watch a video of the oral argument from this case - click here to watch the video. The video does require a...
One of the greatest things the Board ever did for carriers was include a provision in the 2018 Workers’ Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment (“Guidelines”) that providers need to measure range of motion of unaffected contralateral limb and use that as a...
In a recent claim, we obtained surveillance of a claimant performing activities well outside of their doctor’s restrictions. From there, we obtained social media sweep-reports. Of note, the carrier’s obligation to disclose surveillance materials applies not just...
As everyone probably knows, Workers’ Compensation Law §21(4) presumes that a work-related accident isn’t only due to an employee’s intoxication on the job, unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary. Workers’ Compensation Law §10(1) similarly says that an...
The issue of apportionment is confusing. Many attorneys apply the wrong standard, the wrong timing, or both which can lead to a hodgepodge of contradicting decisions by Judge’s and also sometimes by the Board. One type of apportionment is “legal apportionment.” ...
There have been several cases recently where Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (“CTS”) was determined by providers as causally related to the accident of record in the file. At first, this determination of causal relationship seemed pretty straight forward, but a “deep dive”...
It’s well known in the Workers Compensation community that the threshold for meeting Prima Facie Medical Evidence (PFME) is extremely low. However, one argument that the Board has found to be quite compelling, is that “pain” is not an injury. There have been some past...
One fateful morning, white smoke appeared over a street in New York City following the explosion of an underground pipe insulated with asbestos, bits of which littered the scene. And where was the claimant? At home, having worked the night shift, and wouldn’t return...
At LOMAD, we monitor the Third Department for case law updated to stay on the cutting-edge of workers’ compensation law in New York. This month we noted an interesting decision in Allen v. CPP-Syracuse, that provides a helpful reminder to all of us when we are...
Paul B. Kornacki, Associate Attorney 10/31/2022 Our firm recently handled a death claim resulting from a fall from a ladder. In this matter, our client was an auto dealership who had hired an individual to weatherize a large service door. Through our investigation it...
Andrew P. Gould, Associate Attorney 10/21/2022 Rise comrades! Increasingly, legislation is making its way through Albany to the governor's desk before many carriers, self-insured employers and defense attorneys even know it was proposed. Most notoriously, Senate Bill...
Shannan M. Mackey, Associate Attorney 10/17/2022 Did you follow all the rules to use a diagnostic network [where the claimant and provider ignored the notice] and the Board nevertheless issued a Proposed Decision saying to pay your diagnostic fees at the network rate?...
Neil A. Diegelman, Associate Attorney 10/20/2022 When a claimant is working and collecting worker’s compensation indemnity benefits and does not disclose to anyone that they are working, they have likely committed fraud. In a recent case LOMAD was handling, a claimant...