Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen, APC, is proud to announce the establishment of our eighth California Office location.  Ryan D. Greer, Esq., has been promoted to Managing Attorney and will lead the expansion in Orange County.

Orange, CA – 09/24/2018 – Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen, APC, a California statewide law firm practicing exclusively in workers’ compensation defense, subrogation, asbestos, Labor Code §132a, and serious and willful misconduct claims, is expanding its Orange County service in response to client demand.  The office will be led by Attorney Ryan D. Greer.

The new DGC office will open on Monday, October 1, at 2230 W. Chapman Avenue, Orange, California 92868.  This office will serve in addition to DGC’s longstanding Long Beach/Orange County office located at 249 E. Ocean Boulevard, which has served WCABs in Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Long Beach.

Speaking on behalf of fellow firm principals Mark Gilmor and Avery Chazen, Bill Dietz stated, “It is our pleasure to reward Ryan for his tremendous success with the firm while also benefitting our clients with an added physical location for client meetings, depositions, and closer travel to both the Anaheim and Santa Ana WCABs.”

Ryan Greer added, “It is an honor to be provided the responsibility for bringing this expansion to our clients.  We have selected a great location near the heart of Old Towne Orange, and the clients we serve are very excited about it.”

About Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen, APC

DGC was established in 1997 and has now grown to eight California Offices, with 43 attorneys, providing defense for insurance carriers, brokers, third-party administrators, private and public employers, and large self-insured groups.  The firm’s guiding principles are based on providing exceptional customer service and legal representation.  DGC provides the expertise needed to reduce claim costs and achieve prompt case resolution.  Please visit the firm’s website for more information at https://dgcattorneys.com

Media Contacts:                                                                                                                      

Company Name: Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen, APC
Full Name: David Jankosky, DGC Client Services (213-278-1513)
Email Address: djankosky@dgcattorneys.com

On May 10, 2018, Associate Attorney Scott Ashby (DGC San Diego) ended newly-ignited medical spending (averaging over $21,754 per year in medications alone) by way of OAC&R from the San Diego WCAB on a 2015 stipulated case of a now 47 year-old applicant, who had filed a timely Petition to Reopen due to a worsening of her psyche condition.

The applicant had been a stocker and was struck on the back of the head and neck by a falling box containing a microwave. Early symptoms were documented as nausea and dizziness, severe headaches as well as neck and shoulder pain, momentary loss of consciousness with posttraumatic amnesia. Anxiety, sleep disturbance, panic attacks, domestic disputes, repeated cutting behaviors, major depression, nightmares, and borderline personality disorder crept into the applicant’s work injury complaints and history.

Post-award, the parties returned to the AMEs in psychiatry and neurology. By this time, the picture included multiple suicide attempts and psychiatric hospital admissions as well as very expensive migraine and psychiatric medications based on the medical reports and UR decisions. Approved medications included Diazepam, Chlorpromaz, Chlopromazine, Effexor XR, Propronolol, Sumavel DosePro Injections, Relpax, Eletriptam, Zonisamide, and Latuda. Valium was not approved, but applicant paid for it out-of-pocket. Documented marijuana use was also a part of her medical history.

To promote resolution of the claim and reduce the risk of tragedy for all parties, Mr. Ashby assisted the claims examiner in developing a plan to consult with a medical expert and obtain his opinion about the use of the extensive neurological and psychiatric medications. The respected specialist who was consulted confirmed the reasonableness of the current treatment, and advised that it was “…very likely…” to continue for life, given all comorbidities and home life stressors.

With $229,972 in medical payments already (TD and PD were only $8,226 and $24,035 respectively), the consultant’s opinion laid to rest any doubt that the claims examiner’s Future Medical Outstanding Reserve of $1,032,789 would most probably be spent, given the applicant’s relatively young age. The risk of her possible death also hovered.

Again for the benefit of all parties involved, Mr. Ashby and the claims examiner were steadfast in their persistence with the applicant attorney that the legal guarantees and closure provided by a structured settlement (as opposed to continued litigation) could at the very least ameliorate one lingering stressor in the applicant’s life and hopefully provide a boost to her psychiatric condition. Mr. Ashby worked collaboratively with the applicant attorney to make sure the settlement offer was communicated clearly and in the right vein.

The following Structured Compromise and Release agreement was reached: $205,000, guaranteed in the form of $1,110.02 payable monthly to applicant for the next 20 years of life beginning on 07/01/2018; $60,000 up-front cash payable to the applicant; and $35,000 up-front cash payable to applicant attorney.

OAC&R and Walk Through Appearance Sheet: Click here

Structured Annuity Settlement Addendum – Paragraph 9: Click here

Outstanding Medical Reserves and Settlement Evaluation: Click here

Compromise and Release Document – WCAB SDO: Click here

On March 2, 2018, associate attorney Carl Taber of DGC’s San Francisco office obtained a Joint Findings and Award in which the WCJ agreed that the AME had not effectively rebutted the PD schedule, currently resulting in approximately $46,000.00 in PD savings for the defendant, a self-insured public transportation provider.  The applicant, a long-time bus driver for the employer, sustained a specific injury to his shoulders helping a wheelchair-bound passenger onto the bus.

The case went to trial on the issue of permanent disability calculations under Almaraz Guzman II vs. the AMA Guides, 5^th Edition.  The AME had calculated WPI for both shoulders under the range of motion method as indicated in the Guides, but also provided what he claimed was a “more accurate” Almaraz Guzman calculation of shoulder injury based on grip strength measurements.  Although grip strength measurements are not favored under the AMA Guides, a growing wave of med-legal evaluators have been utilizing them as part of an Almaraz Guzman analysis to provide higher ratings than those contemplated by the presumptively correct PD schedule, and many judges have deferred to an AME’s judgement on WPI calculations.

Mr. Taber successfully argued that the AME’s opinion as to the grip strength impairment was not substantial medical evidence due to the AME’s conclusory language, the lack of atrophy, the clear omission of manual muscle testing, and the fact that reliance on grip strength testing is contraindicated by the AMA Guides themselves. In summation, the WCJ found it “…implausible that applicant would have been able to continue driving a bus…up to 60 hours per week for nearly two years as of the date of this trial in the presence of such substantial loss of strength.”

Currently on recon, this case may provide a needed turning point for employers and claims administrators as defendants, and should be followed closely.

Click below to read redacted Joint Findings and Award and Opinion on Decision; Applicant’s Petition for Reconsideration; Defendant’s Answer to Petition for Reconsideration; and the WCAB Judge’s Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration.

Joint Findings and Award & Opinion on Decision: Click here

Applicant’s Petition for Reconsideration: Click here

Defendant’s Answer to Petition for Reconsideration: Click here

WCAB Judge’s Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration: Click here