NWCR 2026!
The National Workers' Compensation Review (NWCR) presents a two-day program each August at the WCI. The NWCR program will be informative this year, and the breadth of topics is notable. It begins Monday afternoon and extends throughout the day Tuesday.
The premier, "session ONE," will be a Litigation Management Panel featuring claims, legal, and medical perspectives. The moderator is Nicole DuShane of Summit Insurance. This will be:
Aligning Litigation Strategy, Defense Counsel, and Employer Outcomes
Monday August 24, 2026; 9:55 – 10:55 a.m.
Grand Ballroom 8B (Entrance through corridor Grand Ballrooms 7 & 8).
The world is awash in financial incentives. These can be obvious and rudimentary, such as comparing the price of gasoline among various stations. But incentives can be less apparent when they are intertwined in large, integrated systems. Workers' compensation obviously fits that bill. There have been various efforts over decades to either incentivize or disincentivize actions or reactions in the delivery of these benefits. Each of them had an intended consequence but too often precipitated other unintended behaviors.
The panel will also discuss the challenges of confidentiality of client information. While this is not an artificial intelligence or cybersecurity panel, the implications of each are readily apparent and may perhaps be the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The claims process will always involve sensitive, private, and even confidential information. How, when, and why it is disseminated is a critical part of the litigation practice, from the perspective of those who seek recovery and those who defend it.
One of the great challenges of the workers' compensation system is the intimate relationship that exists long before an injury occurs. The employer and employee are well acquainted. They have past experiences of trust, performance, and reliability. They come to any dispute with pre-existing perceptions that may be fact, opinion, or a combination. These may be recognized or lurking in the shadows of inherent predisposition that the NWCR exposed in 2025. How the expectations of employers, employees, and the workplace figure into the management of litigation is complex and worthy of discussion.
Part of that complexity is the relationship between defense counsel and their two clients. Too often, it is forgotten that the one attorney represents both the employer and the carrier or servicing agent. These two clients may sing in harmony, but there are ample opportunities for their interests to diverge. Who selects defense counsel? Who directs their actions and makes the ultimate decisions? What is the process for reaching the conclusion points to afford counsel their marching orders? It is a myriad of potentials and challenges.
Counsel's relationships with the management, claims, risk, and financial professionals may be complex and may differ from claim to claim. Expectations are a given. Recognizing them, defining them, and addressing them will lead to greater harmony, predictability, and concert.
Monday August 24, 2026; 9:55 – 10:55 a.m.
Moderator: Nichole DuShane – Summit Ins., Lakeland, FL
Panelists:
Becky Hillhouse, Sr. VP & Head of WC Claims, Ascot Ins. Group, Madison, MS
Alan Pierce, Esq., Pierce, Pierce, and Napolitano, Salem, MA
Melissa Spurlock, Select Medical, Mechanicsburg, PA
NWCR 2026 program overview:
Monday, August 24, 2026
1:00-2:00 Litigation Strategy
2:10-3:10 Causation Analysis
3:15-4:15 Stewardship of Truth
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
8:45-9:45 State of the States
9:55-10:55 Actuarial Insight and Mysterious Underwriting
11:00-12:00 Empathy
1:00-2:00 Rapid Fire Hot Topics
2:10-3:10 Beyond Exclusive Remedy
3:15-4:15 Strategies to Thrive in Times of Change
