Overview:
The decision to allow rebuttal of permanent disability ratings under the 2005 schedule is the most controversial ruling of 2009 by the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. Almaraz/Guzman was so controversial that the WCAB agreed a few months later to reconsider. Members of the defense and applicants' bars are invited to this legal examination of issues that arise in litigated claims for permanent disability awards.

You will:
- Be co-instructed by a sitting workers' compensation judge and the leader in utilizing the AMA Guides in California.
- Understand the impact of the Almaraz-Guzman case.
- Get the algebra in the "Ogilvie Formula."
- Know when to use a "modified rating."
- Walk away with a clear understanding of the new case law and how to apply each legal concept for the clients' benefit.
- Learn how to develop the record to comply with the nuances of the new law.
- Pick up practical tips on how to write a medical report that incorporates accurate impairment ratings.

About the Instructors:

Colleen Casey: Sitting Judge at the SanFrancisco WCAB, a past WCAB Commissioner, a frequent lecturer at the annual DWC Educational Conference, and speaker at Workers' Comp Industry Seminars. She has lectured throughout the state of California on all aspects of workers’ compensation and is a contributing author of the CEB text on workers’ comp and she has written several articles and monographs on the subject.

Judge Colleen Casey received her BA degree from University of California, Berkeley and her JD from Golden Gate Law School in San Francisco. She is a former WCAB Commissioner and is currently a Workers’ Compensation Administrative Law Judge in San Francisco. She is co-chair of the Education Committee. She is the author of “Workers’ Comp Reform: A Silver Lining,” California Bar Journal, State Bar of California, August 2004; “Overview of the Changes to the Workers’ Comp Law,” Workers’ Compensation Quarterly, State Bar of California, Vol. 17, No. 1, (2004); and Chapters 2, 3 and 13 of California Workers’ Compensation Practice, Continuing Education of the Bar, 4th Edition (2000).

Judge Colleen Casey is a sought after speaker and trainer on workers’ compensation law and issues including regional training seminars for the Workers’ Compensation Judges, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, and California Workers’ Compensation Defense Attorneys Association. She is a former member of the Advisory Committee to the California Commission on Health & Safety & Workers’ Compensation (1997-2002). She has won numerous awards from the American Bar Association, San Francisco Bar Association, and the State Bar of California.

Robert Rassp: Mr. Rassp has practiced workers’ compensation and Social Security disability law since 1981 and is the principal of his own law firm since 1983. He is a certified specialist in workers’ compensation law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization since 1994.

Robert Rassp, Esq. was appointed as a member of the State Bar Workers’ Compensation Law Section Executive Committee in April 1998 and became its Chair in 2000-2001. He was reappointed as a member of the Workers’ Compensation Law Section Executive Committee in May 2003 and is currently an advisor to the Committee. He is also a member of the LexisNexis Calif. Workers’ Compensation Editorial Board and is a member of the subcommittee of Editorial Board members for Noteworthy WCAB Panel Decisions. He is the author of “Lawyer’s Guide to the AMA Guides and California Workers’ Compensation,” 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 editions.

Who Should Enroll:
Applicants and Defense Attorneys, Applicants and Defense Bar, Legal Specialists, Hearing Representatives, Paralegals, Claims Managers, Claims Supervisors, TPAs, Self-Insurers, Workers' Comp Program Managers, and anyone involved in Permanent Disability Rating under the AMA Guides 5th.

Continuing Education Credits:
6 Claims Professionals
6 Legal Specialization Credits
6 MCLE
6 QME