Well, that was fast. Time certainly is playing tricks on all of us, huh? I’m quite certain that I sat down to do some work in July and, when I looked up a few hours later, it was October. Needless to say, this year has been quite the roller coaster - filled with ups and downs, thrills and terrors, slow rises, quick drops, and a few loop-da-loops. Due to the industry picking up some speed, additional Commission procedures being rolled out, and dissecting McAllister, Q3 in particular was a whirlwind.

Whether on a small or a pandemic-sized scale, when faced with stress and change, people naturally default to cranking out the work rather than acting with purpose. Keeping this human tendency in mind, ASA’s Third Quarterly Intention is simple:

As a wise, old man once told me (please, no one tell my father that I have publicly admitted he is “wise,” or that I coined him “old”): “quality and purpose are important” and the “long-term rewards will be ten-fold.” In choosing this intention, I pledge to start each day clean, to declutter my mind, and to work through each task with purpose. Quality is not an accident, it is purposeful. To break the “quantity over quality” cycle, we must focus on accomplishing our goals individually and intentionally - giving each the time and attention it deserves until it is completed. Whether this is applied at the office or home, to work, household tasks, or even the time we spend with others, this simple three letter mindset can guide our activities and choices, and how we deliver on them as we close out 2020.

Stay strong, readers! This year will come to an end quicker than we can imagine. But, while we are still knee-deep in 2020, let’s focus on what we are doing and why – on achieving our year-end goals in a manner that will reap rewards ten-fold and set us up for future success, rather than quickly checking tasks off a list with little thought. This way, we will be some of a select few that can look back on 2020 and appreciate just how much we gained, rather than what we lost. 

#MoreThanLawyers #PeopleFirst! 

Given the ongoing public health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, special procedures will continue to be in place at the IWCC Hearing Sites at least through the month of October. These procedures remain in effect until changed or discharged. November procedures will be released near the end of October.

Here is a summary list of pertinent procedural rules in place during these special circumstances:

Another big change to IWCC procedures throughout Illinois comes in the form of electronic submission and approval of lump sum settlement contracts! Attorneys are now able to draft, sign, submit, and obtain arbitrator approval of settlement contracts through the IWCC’s new web portal, CompFile. This new and welcome addition to the IWCC settlement procedure was put into place as of July 22, 2020. This is now the only way to submit and receive approval of settlement contracts at the close of a case as settlement documents mailed or delivered to the IWCC after July 21, 2020 will no longer be accepted. ASA has been utilizing the new submission system since late July with great success!

In September, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in McAllister v. IWCC, 2020 IL 124848, greatly impacting the “arising out of” requirement for compensability under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.

In McAllister, the petitioner was a chef at a restaurant. During his shift, he entered a walk-in cooler in the kitchen to locate a missing pan of food. While searching, he knelt down inside the walk-in and, while standing up, felt a pop in his right knee followed by pain. At the time he knelt and stood up, he was not carrying anything, nothing struck his knee, and there were no alleged defects or hazards on the walk-in floor. He treated for a recurrent medial meniscal tear surgically and was eventually returned to full duty work. 

Because the facts of the case were subject to more than a single inference, the Illinois Supreme Court reviewed the Commission’s decision under the “manifest weight of the evidence standard.” In reversing said decision, they held that the “injury was employment related because it was caused by kneeling and standing while assisting a coworker’s search for carrots in a walk-in cooler - acts that were incident to and causally connected to claimant’s job duties as an arranger of the walk-in cooler.”  

In this case, the Commission found that the act of kneeling and standing was a “neutral risk” because he was performing an “activity of daily living” and not performing that activity of daily living any more than a typical person. The Illinois Supreme Court disagreed with the Commission’s classification of risk. Rather, the Supreme Court held petitioner’s knee injury fell squarely within “employment risk” because, in this scenario, his duties included arranging the walk-in cooler. Thus, the act of kneeling and standing back up again was “an act the employer might reasonably expect him to perform to fulfill his job duties,” i.e. looking for a misplaced item. Of significance, the Court specifically found that “common bodily movements” and “everyday activities” ARE compensable if they resulted in injury that had its origin in a risk incidental to employment.

Of note, the Court maintained that Caterpillar Tractor “remains the starting point for analyzing ‘arising out of’ injuries, even those that involve common bodily movements and everyday activities.” The Court further noted that if the petitioner can prove he was involved in an employment accident, Caterpillar Tractor did not require him to additionally prove greater exposure - thereby overruling Adcock and its progeny to the extent they hold that injuries attributable to common bodily movements or routine everyday activities (such as bending, twisting, reaching, or standing up from a kneeling position) are not compensable unless a claimant can prove exposure to a greater extent than the general public.

Authors: Talin Maghakian

As we all have likely heard, the unemployment division of the California Employment Development Department recently made the news with respect to the fraudulent activity carried out by numerous criminals and opportunists when personal information from the dark web was stolen and used to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits. Therefore, it is timelier than ever to pay closer attention to the details surrounding disability benefits issued by the state to injured workers.

In the world of California workers’ compensation, the California Employment Development Department is often a necessary evil to be dealt with, particularly in the instances of denied workers’ compensation claims. Put simply, when a claim is denied, the alleged injured worker will seek disability indemnity benefits from the state by presenting a physician’s certification of disability. Since the claim is denied, the physician’s evaluation and treatment rendered are obtained on a lien basis, or, the provider will seek to be compensated once the claim is resolved. When this happens, the California Employment Development Department will file a lien with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board for the entire amount of indemnity disbursed to the injured worker. Since the employer defendant and its attorney of record are required to litigate the liens (with limited exceptions) once the claim is resolved, the lien for unemployment benefits are left to either dispute or settle. When “EDD liens” are presented, there are several important considerations to be made and they are as follows: 

Was the certification of disability issued by a physician?

This requirement seems like a no brainer and although we do very much respect the work of herbal healers, yoga instructors, and shamans, they are not qualified to issue a certification of disability for purposes of state disability benefits. Therefore, it is good practice to research the name of the physician and establish that they are indeed qualified. 

Norman Vince Peale’s, The Power of Positive Thinking, is a guide to victory against the everyday problems, pains, struggles, and difficulties that plague human existence. Peale provides a holistic approach to cultivating peace and conditioning the mind for living a successful life through his spiritual techniques and faith.

All of Peale’s teachings revolve around one simple principle, positive thoughts get results. Think about it this way - stress, anger, worry, and self-doubt are all mental creations. However, these mental creations have direct physical effects on our bodies. When we are angry our palms tense up, when we worry, we are unable to physically fall asleep, and when we are stressed our hair falls off. What if we could defeat these mental creations through the power of positive suggestion? More importantly, if these negative feelings have such negative effects on our physical bodies and world, what are the positive physical effects that positive thoughts could bring upon our lives?

Of course, the logical question is then, how the heck can we condition our minds to extrude positivity when we’re constantly faced with life’s challenges? For Peale, the answer is through God, prayer, and faith.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). It is Peale’s belief that God does not only give upon us, but that we too can ask upon God for the power to fill our mind with positivity. If our pattern of thought is a negative one, we will fill our lives with the same. It is also Peale’s belief that in each of us there are all the potential abilities we need to be successful, but it is up to us to tap into such abilities and develop them. So, if God is on our side Peale thinks there is no reason why we can’t all tap into our full potential.

The Power of Positive Thinking shares workable techniques on how to find peace in your life, how to generate constant energy, how to get people to like you, how to decrease anger, build self-confidence, and the list goes on. Before you pick up this book, think and reflect on what are the problems that are inhibiting you from reaching your success? During the time I read this book, my first year as a practicing attorney was coming to a close, I began planning big life events, and, like many, am still learning how to manage life through Covid-19. With this in mind, here my three personal takeaways from this book:

1)    How I perceive life and face challenges depend on the thoughts that habitually occupy my mind. If I think defeat, I’m bound to feel defeated. But, if I make confident thinking a dominant habit of mine, I will be able to overcome the challenges that come my way as I start my career and the changing circumstances brought by Covid-19.

2)    “It isn’t hard work that drains up energy, but emotional upheaval.” If my mind is tired, then my body will feel tired. Therefore, I must make a conscious decision to uplift my mental energy to have the physical energy I need to plan and prepare for my big life events that will ultimately bring me happiness.

3)    Lastly, although my schedule can sometimes get hectic and overwhelming with work, family, and everything that’s thrown my way, I must invest time into finding inner peace to give my mind space to create the positive thoughts needed to be successful.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, with the caveat that Peale centers his techniques around the teachings of Christianity. Now, that’s not to say that if you practice another belief system this book will not be helpful, but you will be simply tasked with making the distinction between Christianity and your own faith system.

Don’t have the time to read this book just yet? Here are three simple techniques from this book that you can implement in your life right away!

1.     Repeat 10 times in the morning and 10 times before you go to bed a positive affirmation. Peale recommends you say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” (Phillippians 4:13).

2.     Make the effort to spend 10 minutes a day to quiet and calm your mind. Take a walk, sit outside, no phone, no work. Give your mind the space to create positive thoughts.

3.     Anger often stems from the culmination of many little inconveniences that build up throughout the day. To tackle this, find solutions to these small factors first. When you’re done, you will find the thing that broke your temper seal was also small enough to solve.