J. Steven Collins, who serves in an Of Counsel role in Spicer Rudstrom’s Knoxville law office, will serve as a member of the faculty in an upcoming seminar on workers’ compensation seminar for the National Business Institute. Steve will address “Tennessee Statute and Case Law Update,” as well as “Mediation Conference,” covering preparation, strategy and tactics, and closing documentation.
“Workers’ Compensation: The Settlement Process and Hearings,” scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, will deliver foundational knowledge and approaches needed to avoid common errors and achieve favorable outcomes. It is geared toward attorneys, in-house counsel, paralegals, claims managers, adjusters, and human resource directors. Specific topics to be addressed include:
- Medical aspects of a workers’ compensation case, including causation and impairment ratings
- How to dispute ratings
- Best practices for analyzing a claim’s recovery potential and determining an appropriate settlement range
- How to avoid settlement mistakes, including understanding the rights of outside parties like health insurance carriers, long- and short-term disability providers, and Medicare and Medicaid programs
- How to recognize nuances of evidence submission and witness testimony.
Steve is an experienced litigation attorney practicing in areas including employment law, domestic relations, and premises liability. His practice has involved defending and representing parties in the grocery, financial, manufacturing, not-for-profit, and trucking industries, as well as providing counsel on government compliance, hiring agreements, and severance packages for employers. He has also handled numerous wills contests. Steve has achieved AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
This course has been approved by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education for a maximum of 6.0 hours of Distance Learning credit, including 1.0 hours of ethics.