The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, by split decision, upheld the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's Dragonetti Act. Villani v. Seibert , 66 MAP 2016; 2017 Pa. LEXIS 939 (April 26, 2017). As a consequence, lawyers are not immune, as a general principle, from an action for wrongful use of civil proceedings. Claimants in this case asserted a wrongful...
Insights and analysis from our attorneys
C&W Journal
February 01, 2017
Why You Need to Prepare for a Cyberbreach
As a profession, we must assess and prepare ourselves for the risks of a technologically connected world in order to continue in the tradition of serving our clients and keeping their confidences....
January 17, 2017
Protecting Firm and Client Information Against Cyber Risks
Technological advances continue to expand the scope of risks that the legal profession experiences in maintaining the privacy and security of privileged client information in a secure, yet...
November 27, 2016
Judge Allows Claim for Corporate Negligence Against Physicians...
Corporate negligence claims against a physicians practice group are often pled by plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases in an effort to implicate additional insurance coverage and bring the...
November 01, 2016
Treating Physician's Medical Reports Basis for Denial of Claim...
In Myers v. Geisinger , the claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he sustained an injury on October 28, 2015. Specifically, the petition alleged that the claimant sustained an aggravation...
November 01, 2016
Subsection (e) of the MCARE Act Swallows the Rule
The MCARE Act requires experts offering standard of care testimony to practice in the same subspecialty or possess the same board-certification as the defendant physician. However, these...
November 01, 2016
Subsequently Filed Petitions to Terminate — Factors Employers Need...
In Baumann v. WCAB (Kellogg Company) , No. 2603 C.D. 2015, the claimant petitioned for review of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board's (WCAB) order affirming the WCJ's decision on remand...
November 01, 2016
NJ Case Law Update — Wage Reconstruction and the Katsoris Rule
A common argument made by petitioners' attorneys is in favor of wage reconstruction. This principle, as outlined in the seminal NJ Supreme Court opinion of Katsoris v. South Jersey Pub. Co ., 131...
November 01, 2016
EDI Forms Solution: Linking EDI Transactions with Filing Select...
On September 9, 2013, the Workers' Compensation Automation and Integration System (WCAIS) went live in Pennsylvania. From day one, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (Bureau) has been faced with...
September 30, 2016
September is Upon Us, Which Means Rule Changes in NJ
The New Jersey Supreme Court amended and adopted new Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey, effective September 1, 2016. Some of the highlights for the civil practitioner include changes to the...
September 30, 2016
Learned Intermediary Doctrine Remains Jersey Strong
A recent decision out of Atlantic County, New Jersey, continues to bode well for the application of the learned intermediary doctrine. The learned intermediary doctrine is a defense rule that...
September 30, 2016
Insurance Bad Faith is No Longer Part of the "Entire...
Those familiar with New Jersey procedural law are also familiar with the "entire controversy" doctrine. The entire controversy is codified in a court rule, specifically, R.4:30A, and provides in...
September 30, 2016
Cybersecurity and Data Protection - Today's Test for Higher...
University of Connecticut, City College of San Francisco, University of Central Florida, University of Virginia, University of Northern Iowa, Southern New Hampshire University; aside from being...
July 23, 2016
Impairment Rating Evaluation: WCJ Permitted to Reject...
In the case of IA Construction Corporation v. WCAB (Rhodes) , 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1070, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a workers' compensation judge has the authority to reject the...
July 23, 2016
Ethical Decision Making for Adjusters
Claims adjusters in virtually all jurisdictions are bound by a code of ethics. Many adjusters are licensed and practice in multiple states and therefore have multiple codes that they must follow....
July 23, 2016
Effort to Have Cooper Interrogatories Propounded Upon Plaintiffs&...
Indeed, the most frequent attack made upon physicians who perform independent medical examinations for defendants is an attack on the doctor's financial profile, i.e., how much money does the...
July 23, 2016
Commercial Trucking and Employment Law: The "ABCs" of...
Generally speaking, employers do not have to pay unemployment, disability, or social security taxes or workers' compensation premiums for independent contractors. Under New Jersey law, employers...
July 23, 2016
Abercrombie & Fitch, One Year Later
The Supreme Court decided EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc . one year ago on June 1, 2015. At the time it was unclear what effect it might have on employers. The facts of the case are...
May 29, 2016
Medical Provider Not Permitted to Intervene After Execution of...
In Peter Schatzberg, DC and Philadelphia Pain Management v. WCAB (Bemis Company, Inc.) , the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently denied a Penalty Petition filed by a medical provider alleging...
May 29, 2016
First Amendment Prevails in Off-Label Use Debate
In Amarin Pharmaceutical vs. FDA, a preliminary injunction granted by the Southern District of New York prohibited the FDA from taking action against Amarin over truthful, non-misleading "off...
May 28, 2016
Continued Difficulty Exposing "Professional Witnesses"
On April 14, 2016, the Honorable Robert A. Mazzoni of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas granted a Motion for Reconsideration, reversing an earlier decision permitting Cooper...