Agenda / Content Covered

1. OVERVIEW OF LAWS AND CONCEPTS
   11:00 — 11:45, Michael Schaff
   1. Scope of Employer Liability
   2. Who is Covered? - Employees, Independent Contractors, Subcontractors
   3. Compensability? - Injuries and Occupational Diseases
   4. Affirmative Defenses
   5. Extraterritorial Application of State Laws
   6. Non-Occupational Disability Benefit Laws
   7. Types of Benefits and Claims
   8. Statute and Case Law Update
2. PREPARING YOUR CASE: PROCEDURES FOR CLAIMANT AND DEFENDANT
   11:45 — 12:30, Jared Buker
   1. Claimant's Attorney: Intake, Investigation, and Case Preparation
   2. Defendants' Attorney: Receipt of the File, Investigation, and Case Preparation
3. DETERMINING THE VALUE OF THE CLAIM
   12:45 — 1:30, Michael Schaff
4. MEDICAL ISSUES DURING THE CLAIM
   2:00 — 2:45, Michael Del Bueno
   1. Medical Discovery Issues
   2. Choice of Doctor
   3. Second Medical Opinions
   4. Medical Evaluation Issues and IMEs
   5. Vocational Rehabilitation and Functional Capacity Evaluations
5. MEDICARE SET-ASIDES, MEDICAID LIENS, AND OTHER SETTLEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
   2:45 — 3:30, Susan Mason
   1. Mediation Strategy
   2. Liens
   3. Medicaid Liens - What You Need to Know Now
   4. Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) Considerations and Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) Requirements
   5. Dual Medicare and Medicaid Eligibility Settlements
6. HEARINGS: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
   3:45 — 4:30, Michael Del Bueno
7. RECOVERY FROM THIRD PARTIES
   4:30 — 5:00, Jared Buker
8. ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS
   5:00 — 6:00, Brian Brittain
   1. Rules of Professional Conduct
   2. Communication With Other Parties
   3. Attorneys' Fees
   4. Lawyer Liability

Accreditation Details:

BRIAN K. BRITTAIN is a partner and one of the founders, and vice-president/treasurer of Ross, Brittain & Schonberg Co., L.P.A. Mr. Brittain oversees the firm's workers' compensation and OSHA practices. Primarily, he supervises the management, defense and administration of workers' compensation matters for more than 1,400 of the firm's clients. He is highly regarded in this field for his unique abilities in aiding both state-funded and self-insured companies to reduce overall workers’ compensation liabilities and expenditures. Since the firm's 1991 beginning, Mr. Brittain has been a driving force behind the development of workers' compensation group rating plans. He oversees all actuarial analyses for group projections and directs the claims administration for all new group members. Mr. Brittain regularly conducts seminars relating to OSHA workplace safety and workers' compensation matters and has authored numerous articles relating to the current Ohio workers' compensation statute and potential future changes. He earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Mount Union College; his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University; and his M.B.A. degree from Cleveland State University. Mr. Brittain is an Ohio State Bar Association certified specialist of workers' compensation law, a member of the Ohio State Bar Association (Labor Law and Workers' Compensation Section), and a member of the Geauga County Bar Association and the Self-Insurers' Group of Ohio.

JARED L. BUKER is an attorney with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, whose practice focuses on workers’ compensation, employment, labor, and administrative law. He counsels clients ranging from small businesses to national and international companies on issues involving workplace injuries, labor disputes, company policy, retaliation claims, FMLA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, OSHA, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. His experience includes practicing in state and federal court, as well as before administrative agencies like the Ohio Industrial Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. Mr. Buker earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Youngstown State University; and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Capital University Law School. While in law school, Mr. Buker was the executive articles editor of the Capital University Law Review, Volume 43. He is a member of the Ohio State and Columbus bar associations, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

MICHAEL P. DEL BUENO is a partner in the Glen Allen law firm of Whitt & Del Bueno, P.C. Mr. Del Bueno has been an attorney for more than 25 years and practices in the areas of insurance defense and workers' compensation law. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys. Mr. Del Bueno earned his B.A. degree from Muhlenberg College and his J.D. degree from Widener University School of Law.

SUSAN V. MASON is an attorney at First Review, Inc. Her legal work for 20+ years has focused on workers' compensation litigation. For the last 15 years, she has also concentrated her practice in the evolving field of Medicare set-asides and compliance with the Medicare secondary payer statute. Ms. Mason is a certified Medicare set-aside consultant (MSCC). She has litigated hundreds of workers' compensation cases from trial to appeal. Her clients have included international and national employers, insurance carriers, and third party administrators. Ms. Mason also provides Medicare compliance consulting, Medicare set-aside allocation reports, submissions to CMS, and conditional payment search and negotiations for employers, employees and both plaintiff and defense attorneys across the country when the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP) applies to a settlement as a result of a claimant's age, Social Security entitlement, or the value of the settlement. Ms. Mason is a graduate of Chatham University and the Widener University School of Law. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and is an active member of the National Alliance of Medicare Set Aside Professionals (NAMSAP). Ms. Mason is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

MICHAEL D. SCHAFF is a founding partner in the Philadelphia firm of Schaff & Young, P.C. His firm represents insurance companies and/or employers in claims brought under the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act, the New Jersey Workers' Compensation Act, and the Longshore and Harborworkers' Compensation Act. Mr. Schaff has served as a workers' compensation judge for the D.C. Department of Employment Services in Washington, D.C., where he conducted formal hearings and rendered decisions on claims brought under the D.C. Workers' Compensation Act. In addition to his defense of the insured and self-insured employers, he also represents "uninsured" employers. He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Schaff earned his undergraduate degree from Muhlenberg College and his J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.