Making Workers' Comp Work Conference To Be Catalyst for Fixing Broken California System

SAN FRANCISCO — February 20, 2010 — The inaugural Making Workers' Comp Work Conference (www.makingworkerscompwork.com) will bring together leading employers and top industry experts in law, medicine and insurance to find solutions that will make workers comp work for all. The conference is designed for employers, claims professionals, lawyers, doctors, human resource professionals, risk managers, and anyone whose work involves California workers' compensation. It will take place at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis on March 11-12.

The Making Workers' Comp Work Conference features industry leaders including the United States Marine Corps, Virgin America, University of California, Salesforce.com, Los Angeles County, Willis Insurance, City and County of San Francisco, San Francisco Unified School District, Santa Clara County, Stanislaus County, Work Comp Central, and leading physicians, attorneys, insurance professionals, and claims representatives including Dr. Nortin Hadler, Dr. Bob Barth, Dr. Alan Colledge (Medical Director of Utah Work Comp), Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Barbara Krantz, Dr. Mel Pohl, Dr. John Alchemy, Zachary Sacks, Esq., Phil Walker, Esq., Ben Pugh, Esq., Jake Jacobsmeyer, Esq., Kevin Shaw, Esq., David Cohen, Esq., Ron Garrity, Esq., Littler Mendelson, Jerry Fogel (architect of the Florida worker's comp reforms), Cheryl Morosini, Dave Chetcuti, Angela Livingston, Annette Lindley, Diane Cohen, Debra Hinz, First Comp, CCMSI, Sedgwick CMS, and Travelers Insurance.

"We are partnering with leaders in the workers comp industry to start fixing a broken system and champion reforms that benefit all parties in the system," said Phil Neal Walker, conference organizer and workers' comp attorney at The Phil Neal Walker Law Firm (www.philnealwalkerlaw.com) "We are convening the first-ever workers' comp community conference that brings together all the players to share ideas and best practices to help create a system that operates with maximum justice, effectiveness and – most of all — integrity."

Delivering on the many meanings of integrity – steadfast adherence to an ethical code, consistency of actions and outcomes, and systemic reliability – will act as a compass for the conference. In over 30 events and breakout sessions (http://bit.ly/bkYlKA), attendees will learn immediately applicable lessons from top experts in the workers comp field (http://bit.ly/9faO7q), share best practices, and discover and share win-win scenarios that work for both companies and employees.

"A highlight of the conference will be a closing session where – as a group – we will determine a list of priorities necessary to fix the system," said Walker. "After the conference closes, we will be taking these priorities straight to the Governor and Legislature in Sacramento."

A highlight of the conference will be the first annual Integrity Awards for Achievements in Workers' Compensation. Winners of the awards will include employers, lawyers, medical and insurance experts who have contributed to making improvements to the workers comp system. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held the evening of Thursday, March 11.

TANGIBLE BENEFITS TO LAST FAR BEYOND THE CONFERENCE

Attendees will immediately benefit from the conference, leaving with tools and techniques that can be implemented immediately – from little to no cost — to produce savings of $14,500 in Permanent Disability per 75% of claims, reduction of 35% of overall PD through apportionment, and reduction of 40% of medical treatment costs.

One of these tools is ClaimsForce, a one-stop solution for managing workers' comp claims that has been developed with Salesforce.com and will be launched at the conference. ClaimsForce will allow workers' comp specialists to manage their workers' comp ecosystem from a simple online dashboard, including 24/7 case updates, documentation management, doctor lists, online doctor appointments, resource libraries, checklists, calculators, and international doctor consults.

ABOUT THE MAKING WORKERS COMP WORK CONFERENCE

The Making Workers' Comp Work Conference (March 11-12 in San Francisco) brings together leading employers and top industry experts in law, medicine and insurance to find immediate and practical solutions that will make workers comp work for all in California. This conference is the first of its kind, combining education, networking, crowdsourcing and political activism. The conference is organized and sponsored by The Phil Neal Walker Law Firm www.philnealwalkerlaw.com.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ABOUT MAKING WORKERS COMP WORK

Follow us on our conference blog at (http://bit.ly/9U1N9D). On the blog, complete our issues survey. Your input will help fuel the discussion at the conference.

Join the discussion

- On Twitter, follow @PhilWalkerLaw or search under #mwcw10
- Join the conference Facebook page at bit.ly/cgKBVL.
- Join the conference LinkedIn group at bit.ly/cgPEQ0.

CONFERENCE RATES

The Making Workers' Comp Work Conference is FREE for employers, HR managers and claims professionals (http://bit.ly/bJIiEE). Lawyers and doctors may attend for a fee of $495. All out-of-the-area participants are asked to stay at the host hotel.

To reserve a space, please contact Carolyn Veinovic at 415-295-4447, carolyn@makingworkerscompwork.com.

Note to editors: A limited number of complimentary press passes are available. To request a press pass, please contact Stephen Crane at Making Workers' Comp Work Conference, stephen@makingworkerscompwork.com