I went grocery shopping this weekend and stopped by the bakery area to pick up some bread.1
I asked the clerk, “Do you have any pumpernickel bread?”
She responded, “What kind?”
“Any kind of pumpernickel of absolutely any type.”
Her answer: “No.”
DOWNLOAD THE MATHEMATICAL PROOF AS A PDF!
A little while ago William S. Morris, an Applicant’s attorney, told me that the Ogilvie adjustment calculation could be further simplified. 1 He suggested the following2 :
The only flaw with the proofs offered by William and myself is that they are too exact. The WCAB in Ogilvie never sets forth the exact process for performing the Ogilvie adjustment calculation – so the only official method involves rounding to different significant figures at different places. Thus, a calculation performed in strict accordance with the WCAB in Ogilvie and through one of these mathematical proofs would differ very slightly.
What do you think? Leave a comment or drop me a line.
Last week I managed to obtain three walk through settlements at three different Boards in the same day – mostly due to the good will and kindness of Board staff and other attorneys. It was my plan to walk through a settlement in San Jose and then Oakland in the same morning to be followed up with an afternoon settlement in San Francisco.1
My morning walk through in at the San Jose WCAB was with an unrepresented injured worker. I had set my Board file and settlement documents down next to me and turned to speak to the injured worker – but when I turned back my Board file and documents were gone. An attorney had walked into the room, picked up my documents and Board file, put them in his bag along with his other materials nearby, and left for his office.
At this point, the dream was almost dead before it had even begun. Even if I managed to chase down my file which was now somewhere in San Jose, I only had a slim chance of finishing a walk through that morning and no chance of doing a second in the same morning.
I very nearly aborted the mission and returned to my office in defeat. Ultimately, I decided that I’d rather risk a spectacular failure than not try at all.
I called my office to get the phone number of the attorney I thought had picked up my file, called their office, and left a message asking for their attorney to call me back. He called me back a few minutes later and said my file was in his bag – he must have put it there accidentally. Unfortunately, his schedule didn’t permit him to bring the file back to the Board.
After apologizing to the injured worker and begging the forgiveness of the Judge, I left the Board and my really excellent parking space for the attorney’s office. I was probably inside their office for less than 30 seconds total since the attorney had left my Board file with his receptionist. Back to the Board, a less than primo parking spot, and last place in the walk through line. 23
Fortunately, the Judge and extremely understanding attorneys in the room allowed me to cut ahead in line to finish my walk through and continue on with my quest.
[mappress]
I’m not going to hold you in suspense. Yesterday I decided to try to fulfill my dream of doing three walk through settlements at three different boards in one day. Thanks to several very nice people I managed to do it. But for the kindness, patience, and tolerance of three Judges, other workers’ compensation attorneys, and especially the Board staff, I never would have stood a chance.
I had a settlement in San Jose in the morning, one in San Francisco in the afternoon, and then another in Oakland. Google Maps says it should have been 2 hours 34 minutes and 132 miles.
I’ll fill in the details later, but suffice it to say that almost nothing went as planned. 1
My personal best is two walk through settlements at two different WCAB district offices in a single morning. Tomorrow I am going to attempt three walk through settlements at three different WCAB district offices in a single morning. My plan is to start my day at the San Jose WCAB at 8:00AM, hit the Oakland WCAB afterward, jet to San Francisco, and then return to the office. Google Maps tells me that this is going to be 134 miles over 2 hours and 39 minutes. 12
As I mentioned before, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong – traffic, long walk through lines, a broken photocopier. 3
But, I’ve done what I can to ensure this works. I’ve called the other parties, have a checklist of everything I need to do in the order I need to do it, my cell phone is charged up4 , phone numbers for opposing counsel and my clients hand, GPS charged up, prepared Minutes of Hearing, Document Cover Sheets, Document Separator Sheets, Awards, and Orders. 56
If you happen to be in San Jose, Oakland, or San Francisco today stop me and say hello. (And – pretty please may I cut ahead of you in line?)
Lastly, I’ll be checking back here throughout the day, so how about leaving me a word of encouragement in the comments?7
Here at PDRater, I like to impart a little bit of medical knowledge when I can. I’ve shown you how swearing can reduce pain, blue M&M’s can heal spinal injuries and now… sugar is much better for you than previously thought.
Scientists are discovering that placebos are becoming more and more effective. In order to determine a particular drug is efficacious, they need to perform controlled tests using the real drug in one group and another group taking fake (usually just sugar) pills.
There is no logical reason placebos should have any effect, let alone an effect similar to the real drug being dispensed to the non-control group. The only explanation I can think of is that people are putting so much faith in the healing power of modern medicine and drugs that they are literally thinking themselves better.
So… what have we learned today? As best as I can tell, we’re supposed to curse and eat sugar and candy. 1
Thanks Wired!
As I mentioned a few days ago, I was recently at the State Bar Convention in San Diego. While at the Steve Jimenez Memorial Special Recognition Awards Ceremony, I bumped into one of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board commissioners.1
It was one of those days where I’m kicking myself for not lugging around my copy of Ogilvie II.2
I got to tell this commissioner, “I’m a big fan of your work.”3
Vocational experts seem to have gotten pretty well trampled by the recent Ogilvie I and Almaraz/Guzman I en banc decisions. The Ogilvie II and Almaraz/Guzman II en banc decisions didn’t do them any favors either.
As far as I can tell, the WCAB1 in Ogilvie II basically flip flopped on the role of vocational experts. Under Ogilvie I at least one very entrepreneurial vocational counselor was making money performing the Ogilvie I formula adjustments and offering to testify to support their findings.2
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board in Ogilvie II has very explicitly stated that vocational experts are not necessary when it comes to performing the Ogilvie I formula adjustment – since it is an objective and retrospective calculation.
This leaves open the question of whether vocational expert testimony is only relevant when defending against an Ogilvie argument.
I ran across this website a few days ago. It’s a website devoted to the homemade modifications firefighters make to their tools and gear to make their lives easier and fighting fires safer. 1 Hopefully a firefighter you know might find it useful.
Most of these modifications are simple and practical – and all are designed to help save a life. 2
I stayed at the Hyatt in San Diego this last weekend for the annual State Bar convention. While there I heard someone comment on their room, “They can only get away with charging these rates because it’s in San Diego. A room like mine would be $100 in Las Vegas.”1
My first thought was, “Yeah, and if the leaning tower were in New York instead of Italy, it would be condemned. What’s your point?”
My room had a really great view (my phone was kind enough to stitch the photos together for me):
