Change is inevitable. Sometimes change means improvement,
sometimes not. Most often what it means depends upon your vantage point. The
practice of workers’ compensation may not be what it used to be, and perhaps referring
to it as an old gray mare is not fair. However, I hope the headline caused you
to read at least this far.
The September 1, 2012 edition of the Florida Bar News
announced that three attorneys were recently awarded the distinction of Board
Certification in Workers’ Compensation.
There are Daniel Gonzalez of Miami, Michael Rabinowitz of Tampa, and
Russell Young of Sarasota. As I try to do each time such an announcement is
made, I drafted a quick congratulatory letter to each this week.
I was posting the letters when I encountered some attorneys.
I mentioned the purpose of my correspondence and mentioned I would like to
write them a letter also. One replied that there is no reason to counsel a
client to take any case to trial when it can be settled advantageously. This is
certainly true. Another intimated that workers’ compensation trials are not the
way to keep the lights on at his office (suggesting that settlements are).
Certainly there is merit in negotiated resolutions through settlement or
otherwise.
Their comments got me wondering about the practice of Comp and
whether the environment today allows certification and recertification, with
the perceptions of fewer trials each year.
Coincidentally, work began in earnest this week on the 2012
OJCC Annual Report. Do the statistics support that trials in workers’
compensation are declining? In fiscal year 2012 the OJCC conducted 1,903 “trials.”
Trials include merit hearings on benefits requested by injured workers, fee
hearings, and a variety of evidentiary motion hearings such as motions for
advance, motions to enforce settlement, and motions to appoint expert medical
advisors.
Review of prior reports illustrates that the volume of
Florida workers’ compensation trials has not changed markedly in recent years.
2006-2007 1376
2006-2007 1376
2007-2008 1760
2008-2009 1920
2009-2010 2080
2010-2011 1888
2011-2012 1903
Although, the 2006-2007 volume seems low, that figure
resulted from data reported by the various districts, without any uniform
definition of what constituted a trial. It likely included only the merits
hearings conducted that year. Certainly, there are fewer trials now than there
were in the 1990s. However, the evidence supports that there remains a
significant trial volume. I suspect that there are attorneys out there who have
prosecuted or defended 25 trials, and are eligible for certification.
There are currently 207 attorneys Board Certified in Workers’
Compensation in Florida. As of June 1, 2012 there were 93,895 members of The
Florida Bar. That number has likely changed since that time, and the results of
the July 2012 Bar Exam will certainly change those numbers in coming weeks.
However, using that figure as a benchmark, roughly two-tenths of one percent of
Florida lawyers is Board Certified in workers’ compensation.
Overall, about 4,880 attorneys are Board Certified according
to the bar website, www.flabar.org. This is roughly 5% of all Florida attorneys.
The various areas of specialty are
Admiralty
and Maritime
|
57
|
Adoption
Law
|
19
|
Antitrust
and Trade Regulation
|
16
|
Appellate
Practice
|
174
|
Aviation
Law
|
32
|
Business
Litigation
|
239
|
City,
County & Local Government Law
|
225
|
Civil
Trial
|
1083
|
Construction
Law
|
292
|
Criminal
Appellate
|
57
|
Criminal
Trial
|
379
|
Education
Law
|
39
|
Elder
Law
|
94
|
Health
Law
|
121
|
Immigration
& Nationality
|
60
|
Intellectual
Property Law
|
135
|
International
Law
|
37
|
Labor
& Employment Law
|
190
|
Marital
& Family Law
|
280
|
Real
Estate
|
450
|
State
& Federal Government & Administrative Practice
|
104
|
Tax
Law
|
248
|
Wills,
Trusts & Estates
|
342
|
Workers
Compensation
|
207
|
Total
Board Certified Attorneys
|
4880
|
To be Board Certified in workers’ compensation, an attorney
must have practiced for 5 years, with 30% or more of their practice over the preceding
three years in the practice of workers’ compensation law. A minimum of 25 contested workers’
compensation trials, all involving substantial legal or factual issues, a peer review,
45 hours of continuing legal education within three years prior to the
application, and successful completion of the Board Certification examination.
Admittedly, the application is a challenge. However, with
the case-search now available on the OJCC website it is much less of a chore
than it used to be. An attorney can search their name in the Google search and
find those trial orders. This will provide you the case numbers, the opposing
counsel details, and the issues that you need for that application.
I am proud to be Board Certified. I am proud of our Judges
who are Board Certified, Judges Lorenzen, Murphy, Rosen, Sculco, and Sojourner.
I am proud of our Mediators who are Board Certified, Mediators Suskin and
Witlin. I am proud of our former Judges who are Board Certified, Juan Bello,
Gary Frazier, and Richard Thompson. I am proud of our newest Specialists, Daniel
Gonzalez, Michael Rabinowitz, and Russell Young. I am proud, in fact, of all
207 attorneys that have achieved and maintain this designation of “Specialist.”
It is my hope that
attorneys will read this and conclude that they would be proud to be Board
Certified also. If you reach that conclusion and I can assist you with research
on your trials and trial orders, contact me at david_langham@doah.state.fl.us