http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php Copyright 2010, julius@workerscompzone.com julius@workerscompzone.com en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100307-114059
Duncan's comments are an important indicator of the remaining agenda for the Schwarzenegger administration in workers' comp.

Duncan has recently been under fire from key legislative Democrats, who demanded a response on the decision to flout the statutory mandate to amend the PDRS effective January 1. 2010:
http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.ph ... 205-222206

In 2009 I did a piece, "Dear John", a fantasy pen-pal letter to Duncan, responding to his sudden appearance in the limelight on comp issues after the Almaraz I/Guzman I decisions:
http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.ph ... 403-214931

Today, workerscompzone readers can savor a followup pen-pal piece......

Dear John:

How's it goin'?.

I was able to catch your speech in Oakland at the DWC conference last week.

First, it was good to know we have something in common. I also like wearing Lacoste shirts. We're both preppy. Gotta love that crocodile! And to think some folks call it an alligator shirt....Harrumph...

Anywho, it was fascinating to hear that story about how you were in your Lacoste on the beach (was it Malibu?) when you got the call during the recall era to brief Arnold on workers' comp issues. My fantasy is that you were sitting there under a cabana drinking a Pimm's Cup when you got that call from Arnold's people.

I love a glass of Pimm's Cup on the patio, don't you? Even the little sliced cucumbers they give you to stir with...

And who knew the Guv dressed so casually?

But back to your speech at the DWC conference.

Glad to hear that the DWC is working with the external users group to simplify EAMS. That's gotta have been a big heartache for you the last couple of years. You heard mostly complaints from the comp community and the EAMS has been a budget buster.

Your comment that workers' comp is an "essential lubricant" in state's economic picture had me briefly thinking of AstroGlide. But lets not go there.

Your comp stats were impressive. The average cost of workers' comp cut by half. Over $50 billion in savings for California employers. You "wouldn't want to imagine" today's California economy without the savings due to the reforms.

Some folks might want to rehash old arguments about why pre-reform comp costs where rising so much after the millennium, or why insurers were allowed to reap such huge profits in the early post-reform years. Re-exploring all that is a non-starter now. I know that and you know I know that.

I gotta applaud many of the efforts you're now taking to control rising medical treatment costs. Out of control treatment costs will kill the system. If treatment costs grow too rapidly there's little room for benefit increases for disabled workers.

So you've got your 12 point plan. Reducing HCO barriers. Simplifying MPN notice regs. E-billing. Revising PR-2 and PR-4 forms and streamlining authorization requests. Surgery center fee schedules.
Dealing with hardware reimbursement formulas. WCIS regs. Pharmacy network regs. UR regulation simplification. RBRVS fee reimbursements.
A drug formulary. Efforts to address liens which are choking the system.
Making medical treatment guidelines more comprehensive (as you said, the treatment guidelines are "a living document").

Wow. Makes me tired just listing it all. I've got to hand it to you. Looks like you won't be turning off the lights until January 2011.

I'd love to see an independent assessment of how all those changes fit together from both a cost standpoint and a quality of care standpoint.
Devil's always in the details.

What took you so long to focus on medical costs?

Maybe it was my vinegar-laced salad dressing, but hearing that "nearly 12% of California employers are uninsured" seemed like a throwaway line.

I love seeing the occasional labor standards investigator busts, but where's the leadership on really cracking down on the large number of scofflaw employers?

Where's some of that good ole-time preppy passion? I missed that part.

What I found most interesting in your talk was your vision of the comp system generally. You referenced the "social contract" where workers injured on the job gave up their right to sue in exchange for the guaranteed benefits under the comp system.

On the one hand you referenced keeping the "compensation bargain".
And you used the term"adequate benefits".

But it's clear you don't want a system which focuses on the individual impacts. In your view efforts to identify an appropriate result on a case by case basis basis are "doomed to failure". You want cases determined on a basis that is "objectively verifiable" and "reproducible".

That must have charmed your lunch partners, the commissioners of the WCAB.

I can't help thinking that many disabled workers don't get the concept that they are subject to a cookie cutter dispensation and then told to "move on". Where's the "adequacy" and the fulfilled "compensation bargain" in that?

Try telling a union worker who just lost his good job to "move on" after he loses the job because of work restrictions but is awarded "zero impairment".

That worker might come rip the crocodile off the canary colored Polo shirt of anyone who told him to "move on".

But I realize you are not alone. There are many stakeholders-and some consultants to labor and CHSWC-who really want a cookie cutter system. Your presentation merely laid out the case in a stark fashion.

You referenced that a prior tentative PDRS revision would have increased benefits by 16% and that the DWC is prepared to use more current data in a future revision. Bravo.

But you claim there's too much uncertainty to so so now, so you will not amend the PDRS now. "California employers are hurting and can not absorb more costs".

So it was John Duncan, defiant.

Looking back, you are the Wilsonian legacy. You've been in key positions at DIR for most of the last 20 years and have headed the department under 2 governors.

I can keep a secret. Will you morph into a key role in the Whitman brain trust?

Your credibility might be higher in many quarters if you had shown some personal advocacy for the benefits of disabled workers whose benefits were slashed after the reforms. Granted, their situation is not your total portfolio, but it is in there. The problems at Cal-OSHA compound that perception.

But you're a good and able soldier for business interests. As we say in my homeland, the South, it's just "bidness". "Bidness" creates jobs.

I thought I'd take the time to add to your mailbag. The DWC presentation made interesting political theater. John Duncan defiant.....

Ciao
Your neighbor by the Bay

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com


]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100307-114059 julius@workerscompzone.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:40:59 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100307-110638
But how close are they to really having those votes? Much of the punditry on this is based on the political spin machines. None of the analyses I've seen have actually looked at the details of vote counting.

Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants are busy trying to tamp down concerns over abortion funding language and political concerns of members running for re-election.

Some of those House Democrats may decide to take a page from the Arkansas's Blanche Lincoln playbook. Trailing badly to GOP challengers in the polls for her U.S. Senate seat and facing a primary challenge from a progressive and labor supported Lt. Governor, Lincoln now touts her no votes on most of the Obama agenda. Lincoln has unveiled an ad showing her as a voice of reason in a class of kindergarteners pictured throwing paper money around the room.

Adopting a strategy of an incumbent running against Washington may turn out to be clever.

For the political junkies out there, here's a fascinating analysis by blogger/political analyst Jay Cost. Cost does the gritty homework to analyze the status of the swing House votes that will determine whether the bill gets enacted, bringing healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.

Here's the piece by Jay Cost:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horser ... se_de.html

Everything is fluid, but Cost currently tallies the votes as follows:

Democrats who voted nay in November:
Very Hard to persuade: 25
Hard to persuade: 6
Persuadable: 6

Democrats who voted yea in November:
May vote nay now: 11
Other possible nays: 12

Stay tuned. I have posts coming on DIR Director John Duncan's speech at the DWC conference and on the recent CHSWC meeting.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100307-110638 julius@workerscompzone.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:06:38 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100306-103044
Just in case you've already done your homework, filled out your Oscars scorecard, and finished that glass of two buck Chuck, workerscompzone has a time filler for you.

Why not take a look at the DWC rulemaking efforts now under way?

MPN, employee information and DWC1 and notice of potential eligibility regs are in their 1st 15 day comment period. Comments are due March 17, 2010:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/M ... ations.htm

Electronic medical billing regs have been unveiled, and public hearings are scheduled for April 23, 2010 in Oakland and April 26, 2010 in Los Angeles. If you are a provider, this will be of great interest:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/E ... ations.htm

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100306-103044 julius@workerscompzone.com Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:30:44 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100303-222757
While the Medical Unit is getting QME panel requests issued in less than a month for unrepresented workers, panels in represented worker cases are currently not issued until around 90 days from request.

Labor Code 139.2(h)(1) requires unrepresented panel requests be issued within 15 business days of receipt by the DWC Medical Unit. For represented worker panels there is no statutory timeframe but the Medical Unit has previously indicated a goal of processing those within 30 working days.

Suzanne Honor-Vangerov, manager of the DWC's Medical Unit, gave a presentation on the workload of the Medical Unit. Each month 6,600 panel requests are filled. The breakdown is as follows:
Unrepresented cases: 4,700
Represented cases: 4,100
Ordered by judges: 100
Replacement panels: 550

Honor painted a picture of a unit besieged by a huge volume of paper
(the Medical Unit is not on EAMS) that is also coping with the effects of furloughs. Apparently some Medical Unit personnel have been off on Friday furloughs but come in on Saturdays. Eventually they'll have leave time as a result.

The boxes of backlogged requests may multiply.

The situation is complicated by procedures and forms which result in many requests being kicked back. That occurs for a variety of reasons where forms are not filled out properly, supporting documentation is not attached, there is a conflict between the data in the form and the underlying documentation etc etc. Ms. Honor and DWC Legal Unit staff counsel Suzanne Marria did an admirable job of detailing the types of errors that can delay processing of requests in represented and unrepresented cases.

It's hard to fault the DWC staff, who are trying to keep the QME system flowing. One does wonder if there aren't steps that could be made to streamline the process.

What was most disturbing was word that requests for panels for workers represented by attorneys is taking 90 days. And if the request is kicked back for clarification from one or both of the parties, the wait could be much longer.

Having such a processing time differential between represented and unrepresented cases is troubling.

Yes, if there are long delays it may encourage adjusters, defense attorneys and applicant attorneys to agree on AMEs.

There are many cases where it's in the interest of the insurance carrier to get a speedy resolution. If there are disputes over TTD status or over treatment issues, employers and insurers may be prejudiced by having to wait many months for a panel to be issued. In some cases a panel is issued and there are problems with one or more of the panel docs, necessitating a replacement panel.

So if there are delays in the QME process it may give more incentive to parties to use AMEs. With AMEs in a represented case the parties have more control over scheduling. If an AME is scheduling too far out in time the parties can agree to someone else. I suspect there are many adjusters and claims managers who would be more willing to consider use of an AME if they understood the delays at the Medical Unit.

The problem is in represented cases where the parties cannot or will not agree to an AME. A wait of 90 days-or more-to even get the QME process rolling is prejudicial to many workers and to many employers.

A 90 day wait-or more-is hardly a hallmark of an expeditious, unencumbered system.

Under these circumstances I believe that many attorneys will start getting orders from a workers comp judge directing the Medical Unit to issue a panel promptly. If the unit is too swamped to comply expeditiously (some of these orders may require Medical Unit compliance in a designated timeframe) judges may allow the defense attorney and applicant attorney to bypass the process altogether. Ultimately the WCAB has jurisdiction on what medical evidence it will allow, particularly if the parties stipulate to the admissibility of evidence.

Either the DWC needs to devote more staff resources to the unit or the
QME request procedures need to be revamped.

With the Schwarzenegger-appointed DWC administration headed towards its final hurrah, it's not clear this is a priority. But this DWC administration or the next needs to address these problems, which may only grow worse.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> QME process http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100303-222757 julius@workerscompzone.com Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:27:57 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100302-083928
Statewide Insurance Services, based in Rancho Cordova, has announced nationally based insurance coverage written specifically for the medical marijuana industry.

Apparently the coverage will cater to pot growers and dispensaries. An official of Statewide Insurance Services, Mike Aberle, is quoted in today's Sacramento Bee as saying it covers "all aspects of the industry", including workers' compensation.

I don't have any details yet, but it's interesting to note such industry-specific coverage.

If they are writing workers' comp, perhaps they'll also offer medical marijuana dispensaries as part of their MPN. Perhaps they'll have medical marijuana on their formulary to be prescribed by treating physicians.

Is this the vanguard that will eventually get marijuana accepted as a treatment modality under California's MTUS?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Meanwhile, there's growing focus on the involvement of the Mexican mafia in large scale pot growing operations on public lands such as areas near Yosemite and in Sequoia National Forest. Here's a piece from the Los Angeles Daily News, "Drug Gangs taking Over U.S. Public Lands" by Alicia A. Caldwell and Manuel Valdes:
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14495133

Stay tuned, and don't inhale too much.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100302-083928 julius@workerscompzone.com Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:39:28 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100301-223724
Masada.

This ancient fortress, built on a desert mesa near the Dead Sea, is surely one of the most desolate places on earth. Built around 43 B.C. by Herod, the Roman ruler of Israel, Masada sits atop steep cliffs.

The closest American analogy to the site would be the Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona.

Masada is etched into the Jewish psyche as a symbol of Jewish resistance. History (writtten by Flavius Josephus) tells us that rather than submit to defeat at the hands of the Romans, Jewish Zealots elected to extinguish their own community rather than fall into Roman hands. Lots were cast, and those selected by lot then killed their fellow Jews, including women and children.

To some of you it may sound like an ancient Jonestown.

But to many modern Israelis the story is inspirational. School kids and the army visit the site, absorbing the message of ultimate resistance.

The day I was there the place was swarming with Israeli Arab kids. Israeli Arabs, who now probably make up at least 20% of Israel's population, are probably vital to the future direction of the country. They are a group distinguishable from Palestinians.

Those Israeli Arabs are largely Muslim, with a small number being Christian.

I wondered to myself how those schoolkids felt about the Masada story.
Did it give them inspiration about living in a Jewish state?

Israeli Arabs do have the right to vote, but are not required to serve in the military. Their incomes are much lower, and most observers would concede that there is a large class distinction between the Israeli Arabs and Jews. Among Israeli Jews, Ashkenazi Jews (European) are better off economically than Sephardic Jews (from North Africa and the Middle East).

In my brief travels in Israel it was clear that there is tension not just among Palestinians (see my posts on Jerusalem and Bethlehem) but also among Israeli Arabs.

This is a great worry for many Israelis.

The 2006 war with Hisbollah in south Lebanon went very poorly. The vaunted Israeli army pounded parts of Beirut from the air, but it was difficult to triumph over a slippery guerilla force.

Many Israelis believe that things are back to pre-1967. There will likely be permanent struggle to preserve the existence of Israel. They believe the criticism of the separation wall and settlements to be a distraction from the major challenges they face strategically.

Iran is a great worry as it proceeds on a nuclear path. They know that sanctions on Iran are a joke and will not work.

The growing demographic size of the Israeli Arab community is a great
worry for Israel.

Some question whether it can remain a Jewish state and still be an American style democracy. How will increasing numbers of Arabs within Israel affect the very Jewishness of the state?

NYU professor Tony Judt has questioned whether Israel got on board the nationalism train too late. Judt (who is Jewish) claims that Israel has imported a late 19th century separatist project into a world that has moved on to concepts of individual rights, multiculturalism and open borders:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/711997.html

Neo-conservative Jewish theorists such as Daniel Gordis defend the necessity for a Jewish state (they are joined by some Christian theorists who see the Jewish state as the protector of Christian holy sites). For those wanting a detailed analysis of where things stand for present and future Israel (from an intellectual who is pro-Israeli) I'd recommend Gordis' book, "Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War Which May Never End":
http://danielgordis.org/books/saving-is ... never-end/

It's beyond the scope of this blog to get involved in the Judt vs. Gordis debate. I have friends and colleagues who predictably will join one or the other camp.

But as I flew back towards the U.S. I wanted to bring this debate to your attention. How it is dealt with may affect whether there is any peace process and whether we all face a lifetime with the Israel/Palestine issue at the forefront.

Stay tuned, readers. I'll be resuming workers' comp commentary shortly.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100301-223724 julius@workerscompzone.com Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:37:24 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100301-092557
Bethlehem.

It's about as far from Jerusalem as San Bruno is to San Francisco or Malibu to Santa Monica. From my hotel I can look towards Jerusalem. The border fence separating the Palestinian Territories from Israel lies in between, snaking over the parched-looking hills.

My wife made me promise I would not go. She's worried about security in the entire region. But the temptation to see for myself is too great.

Getting there is not so easy. The cab driver takes a somewhat complicated route, but there are no actual entry checkpoints. Soon we're on the other side of the wall.

We're talking more than a fence. It's a separation wall that appears to be around 25 feet high. This wall runs for hundreds of kilometers. This is the real deal-not like the U.S. Border fence with Mexico that seems scalable.

Proponents of the wall cite it as one reason that terrorist incidents and suicide bombings are down in Israel. They argue that to have peace you must have a peace partner and that the Palestianian leadership was never willing or able to accept the existence of Israel and strike a deal.
They argue that with Arafat's passing and the rise of Hamas in Gaza and Hisbullah (in Southern Lebanon), there is no reliable peace partner.

Some of the Palestinians I talk to feel like they are living in a cage. The anger is palpable.

We head toward Bethlehem's Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.

Oops...this road is a bad idea. Marching towards us are a couple hundred protesters. They're protesting the Israeli government's decision to designate Israeli historic site status to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron (a Palestinian controlled town) and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem
(also Palestinian controlled, albeit notable that Bethlehem has a large number of Christian Arabs).

Intent on avoiding getting caught amid the protest, we do a u-ie and head down other streets.

Arriving at Manger Square, I note a large group of Polish Christian pilgrims entering the Church of the Nativity.

Before entering, my Palestinian guide wants to point out the "settlements". We look toward Gilo and Ma'ale Adumim, two settlements which appear to be large apartment blocks interspersed between Palestinian towns.

After visiting the historic church, supposedly cited on the birthplace of Jesus, we head out to Herodian, a palace built by Herod of Rome. Situated in the Judean Desert above a flat topped hill, Herodian affords a panoramic view of the area. From there one can see the Dead Sea far in the distance. And beyond the Dead Sea are the high mountains of Jordan.

In truth the area-still far in Palestinian territory behind the separation wall- is totally parched. It reminds me of the hills looking east from Palm Springs-the area around Desert Hot Springs.

From the top of Herodian, more views of settlements. At the southwestern edge of Herodian is what appears to be a relatively new Israeli settlement perched atop its own little hill. There are perhaps 10 or 15 trailers, a water tower, a few makeshift barns, and some plastic covered buildings shaped like Quonset huts.

It's obvious that these settlements are like a poke in the eye toward Palestinian nationalists. Tolerated-and even encouraged-by some in the Israeli leadership, the settlements create additional "facts on the ground" that will eventually have to be dealt with as part of any lasting peace process.

Getting to Herodian we passed an Israeli Defense Force humvee. Presumably they were on patrol near the settlement.

headed back to Jerusalem, we enter one of the settlements. Large apartment buildings are under construction. For sale signs abound. There appears to be an office where they show model units. A neighborhood and a lifestyle is being marketed.

Geting back to Jerusalem, we pass through a checkpoint. The IDF officer looks carefully at me, see's I'm a tourist, and waives us through.

This was a couple of days before more serious events erupted in Jerusalem, with rock throwing protesters and countermeasures by Israeli police on the Temple of the Mount.

The flashpoint continues.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com
]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100301-092557 julius@workerscompzone.com Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:25:57 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100228-213756
Jerusalem....surely the most contested place on earth. Pretty much every inch of the old city is contested by some religious group. The old city is divided into four zones: the Arab quarter, the Jewish quarter, the Christian quarter, and the Armenian quarter.

I come down from my hotel located on Mt. Zion. Entering the Jaffa Gate, I run the gauntlet of hundreds of vendors in the labyrinthine old streets.

Why is it that so many of the places seem to be selling the same trinkets? Are those antiquities really old? Shall I break down and buy one of those "Don't Worry America, Israel Will Defend You" t-shirts?

Some of the vendors really do "got game". One guy ropes me into his stand to show me a picture of his dad, who is supposedly an Orange County police officer. He quickly changes the subject to the carpets and jewelry for sale in his shop.

Another vendor claimed he lived for a few years in Venice Beach. I ask him whether he ever smoked cigars at Arnold Schwarzenegger's place there, Schatzi on Main. Blank stare.

I stop for lunch. It's hard to beat a plate of hummus topped with minced lamb, washed down with a glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

The restaurant owner seems intent to be hitting on middle aged Northern European females. I eat my lunch slowly and must hear him ask various women whether they are from Austria or Sweden.

I dead down the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus is said to have carried the cross. It's slow going, as a crowd of Koreans trail an old, frail looking Korean pilgrim dragging a huge wooden cross on her spindly shoulders.

From there I turn into the Arab quarter. It looks less prosperous. Lots of kids play soccer in narrow, ancient streets. Signs are in Arabic, unlike other parts of Israel where signs are mostly only in Hebrew. It's not scary, but there's not a welcoming feeling on these streets either.

I wind my way toward the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the 3rd holiest site in Islam.

It's a no go in the afternoon, so I'm stopped by the tourist police. Even in the morning the Mosque is off limits. Try the Wailing Wall, I'm told.

Actually it's the Western Wall, a sheer stone face just below the Temple Mount. Several dozen IDF forces stand guard along the way, automatic weapons at their side, before I even get to the entrance with metal detectors.

Passing through, I'm at the wall. Actually it's a mammoth plaza. Perhaps a hundred Orthodox Jews are lined up praying at the wall, some sticking small pieces of paper in the crevices. Others seem to be standing or sitting, rocking and swaying as they recite the Torah.

Women seem to get the short end of the stick. The Western Wall female prayer area l takes up about a third of the space, with the guys getting the other two-thirds.

I missed the protests, but there were Temple Mount and old city clashes between rock throwing masked Palestinians and the police after stones were thrown at tourists.Tension has been very high this week after Israel announced plans to add several West Bank shrines to Israel's national preservation list.

Tension has been high in the Jewish quarter as some ultra -Orthodox Jews set up poles to demarcate areas where nothing can be carried on Shabbat (the Saturday religious holiday).

Everything looks dry as a bone, but menacing clouds roll in. There's thunder in the distance. Then lightning cracks appear to be closing in.

The scene is beautiful. It oozes history. But it's also somewhat menacing. One can see that an insult here or a stone thrown there can set off an international incident.

Time to get back to the hotel before the downpour.

A good time to read something on Israel's labor law. Here's an interesting piece, albeit several years old (so changes may have occurred):
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialo ... nal/is.htm

And this article by Steven J. Adler, President of the National Labour Court:
http://stephen-adler.com/

Stay tuned. In coming days' I'll complete this series with a view from Bethlehem (in the Palestinian Territories) and Masada (on the Dead Sea).

For a report on the current strife, see this:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100228/D9E567I81.html

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100228-213756 julius@workerscompzone.com Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:37:56 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100226-073751
January 18, 1991.....

I'll never forget that day. The California Applicants Attorneys Association was having its winter conference in Southern California.

In the middle of a late afternoon seminar the program was interrupted.
The huge room went quiet, and then there were gasps and groans. It was announced that Tel Aviv and Haifa, Israel had been hit by Scud missile attacks.

Many of the applicant attorneys were Jewish, particularly from the Los Angeles area. There was great consternation as it was announced that Iraq had launched a rocket attack on the major Israeli cities in the middle of the night.

As it turned out, damage was light. But psychologically, the attacks reenforced for many the fragile status of Israel in a fractious Mideast.

So almost 20 years later I find myself in Tel Aviv for the first time. A lot has happened in those years. The 1993 Oslo Accords. The 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a right wing religious fanatic. The Ariel Sharon visit to the Temple Mount. The second Intifada. Suicide bombings. The 2004 death of Yasser Arafat. The building of a wall to separate the West Bank Palestinians from Israel. Evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza. The ascendancy of Hamas in Gaza. 2006 conflict with Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. Expansion of more settlements.
Development of a high tech industry sector.

And that's just skimming the surface.

Walking the Tel Aviv beach, one could imagine being in West LA. Bikers, runners, dog walkers, skaters...they're all here.

The U.S. embassy is there, on the beachfront boulevard.

A few blocks over are boulevards lined with Bauhaus style dwellings.
Much of Tel Aviv was essentially a planned community in the 1930s,
built in the German Bauhaus design of simple, flowing lines. Leafy boulevards traverse small side streets. There's a cafe every couple of blocks. With mild winters, people are outside enjoying themselves.

Aside from an occasional off-duty soldier carrying his weapon, there's little reminder here that the country is always potentially on alert. Bombings have been rare to non-existent for some time, though visitors to major landmarks, hotels and malls do go through a front door security check.

In central Tel Aviv the population looks largely European. Few Israeli Arab head scarfs are noted, and remarkably few men in ultra-orthodox black hats and suits are seen here. It's a secular vibe.

Signs are largely in Hebrew. Many places have no English signs, and in central Tel Aviv it seems rare to have signs in Arabic, even though an increasing percentage of the population are Israeli Arabs.

My first night here I tune in to cable TV on the Bloomberg channel.
Lo and behold they feature a debate on whether "the United States should step back from its special relationship with Israel". Roger Cohen (a New York Times columnist) and Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi said yes, while former U.S. diplomat Stuart Eizenstat and former Israeli ambassador Itamar Rabinovich said no.

The debate is fascinating, and serves as a good introduction to the current strategic issues regarding the U.S. and Israel. You can see a summary here, which includes a link to actually watch the debate:
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/wp-con ... Israel.pdf

Cohen and Khalidi win the debate, taking a larger share of the undecideds in the live audience.

After being glued to my TV, I venture out onto a windy beach for a late night hamburger. Runners are still active on the beach path at 11 pm.
Dance clubs are opening at midnight. In the distance, from the old port of Jaffa, I can hear the wailing Muslim prayers.

Stay tuned. In my next post. I'm headed to Jerusalem. From there I'll share some information on the Israeli labor law system.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100226-073751 julius@workerscompzone.com Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:37:51 GMT http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100224-085344
For non-lawyers out there, it means that the California Court of Appeal, 6th District (based in San Jose) has agreed to hear the case. In Guzman II the WCAB indicated that it will allow physicians to use all aspects of the AMA guides themselves (up to the "four corners" of the guides) in order to assess an accurate impairment rating.

Here is a link to the WCAB decision in Guzman II:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/wcab/EnBancdecisi ... ep2009.pdf

The 6th District is turning out to be a hotbed of appellate activity in workers comp. The Hertz v. WCAB (Aguilar) case came out of the 6th District. Hertz/Aguilar is now awaiting a date for oral argument at the California Supreme Court. The "XYZZ" case involving "colas" is out of the 6th District. The district is somewhat unpredictable.

It's not surprising that the court has elected to take the case. The case involves major issues of statewide impact.

So far the Court of Appeal 5th District has not signaled that it will take the Almaraz case appeal.

It's quite possible that the 6th District and the 5th District could both hear the Almaraz/Guzman issues and disagree. In that event the cases would have to go to the California Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the 6th District declined to impose a stay on the Guzman ruling.

Some injured worker advocates have felt confident that the Almaraz/Guzman decisions will withstand appellate court scrutiny. They believe that legislative dealmaking is best delayed in hopes that a Democratic governor is elected.

Whether that's a wise strategy or effectively a quixotic effort to run the table remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, all ye amicus groups, start your engines......

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

]]> Political developments http://www.workerscompzone.com/index.php?entry=entry100224-085344 julius@workerscompzone.com Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:53:44 GMT