8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Cases Every Workers' Compensation Attorney Should Know
Michael W. Ballance, Dickie McCamey & Chilcote PC, Raleigh
Review the top 10 cases you need to know as a practicing workers' compensation attorney.
10:00 Break
10:10 Challenges Faced on Both Sides of a Claim
Paul C. McCoy, Lewis & Roberts PLLC, Raleigh
Vernon Sumwalt, The Sumwalt Group Workers' Comp and Trial Lawyers, Charlotte
Listen as attorneys from opposing sides discuss how to manage difficult clients and strategically navigate through some tricky issues.
11:10 Break
11:20 Appearing Before the NC Industrial Commission
Ashley M. Moore, North Carolina Industrial Commission, Raleigh
William W. "Bill" Peaslee, North Carolina Industrial Commission, Raleigh
Hear practical tips for writing opinions and awards, and for appearing before the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
12:20 Lunch Break
12:50 Non-insured and Fines
Julia M. Harris, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh
Delve into the different dockets — penalty dockets, non-insured dockets and contempt dockets — and their role in workers' compensation claims. Discuss the calculation of the alternate penalty, explore the agricultural exemption, and find out how to determine if the new or former N.C.G.S. § 97-94(b) applies to your case.
1:50 Break
2:00 Appearing Before the North Carolina Court of Appeals
Angela F. Craddock, Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh
M. Duane Jones, Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP, Charlotte
Gain insight into appearing and arguing before the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
3:00 Break
3:10 Mediation for Workers' Compensation Attorneys≠
Jacqueline R. "Jackie" Clare, Jacqueline R. Clare Attorney at Law, Raleigh
Thomas M. Clare, Thomas M. Clare Attorney at Law, Raleigh
Learn about the nuts and bolts of a workers' compensation mediation, including an overview of the North Carolina Industrial Commission mediation rules, the Standards of Professional Conduct and advisory opinions that act as guides for mediators.
4:10 Adjourn
≠ Indicates portion providing NC Dispute Resolution Commission Continuing Mediator Education
Thank you for joining us for The Basics of Workers' Compensation (2021 Workers' Compensation Fall Program).
Join us as we dive into the basics of practicing workers' compensation from the perspectives of both representing plaintiffs and representing defendants.
Michael W. Ballance is the Managing Attorney of the Raleigh office of Dickie McCamey & Chilcote PC. He is an experienced civil litigator with his practice concentrated in the areas of administrative law, appellate practice, employment law, and workers' compensation. He represents clients at all stages of civil trials and administrative proceedings, from mediation through appeals to the Supreme Court. Michael has appeared as counsel in over two dozen North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court cases. He is also a certified mediator who regularly helps parties resolve their disputes without going to trial.
Additionally, Michael serves as an Adjunct Professor at both The University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill and Campbell University School of Law in Raleigh where he currently teaches Workers' Compensation Law and Practice. The deans from both universities have appointed him to represent their schools in North Carolina's transition to adopting the Uniform Bar Exam. He is one of five lawyers chosen to develop a required course of study and examination on the state's workers' compensation law. Michael has also taught Legal Writing and Appellate Advocacy and is a frequent writer and speaker on workers' compensation topics.
Prior to joining the firm, Michael clerked for Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, Jr. of the North Carolina Supreme Court and was in private practice with other law firms in Raleigh.
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Jacqueline R. "Jackie" Clare is a DRC Certified Mediator – Superior Court in Raleigh. After practicing law with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Jackie became a DRC certified superior court mediator in 1993 and since that time has devoted her professional career to a full-time mediation practice, having mediated over five thousand cases primarily in the areas of workers' compensation, personal injury, business, bankruptcy, and medical malpractice.
Jackie is a recipient of the 2013 Lawyers' Weekly Women of Justice Litigation Practitioner Award, the NCBA Dispute Resolution Section Peace Award, and is included as one of the Best Lawyers in America and a North Carolina Super Lawyer for her work in mediation. She has served as a member of the NCBA Board of Governors and the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission; she is past chair of the NCBA Dispute Resolution Section and immediate past Chair of the NCBA Women in the Profession Committee.
Jackie is an adjunct professor at Campbell Law School, teaching Mediation Advocacy.
Jackie earned her B.A. from East Carolina University and her J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Thomas M. "Tom" Clare is a DRC Certified Mediator – Superior Court in Raleigh. He practiced with Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham from 1987 to 2007, and during that time handled both liability and workers' compensation matters. From 1995 to 2007 he specialized in the defense of asbestos related occupational disease workers' compensation cases. From 2008 to 2011 he was the managing partner of the Raleigh office of Oxner Thomas & Permar. He became a certified mediator in 2001, and since 2011 has conducted a full-time mediation practice. Prior to becoming a full-time mediator, he was a Board-Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation.
From 2014 to 2020 Tom was a member of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission, where he served on the Standards and Advisory Opinions Committee. He is a councilor on the North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Council, and co-chair of the Ethics and Practice Committee of the NCBA Dispute Resolution Section.
Tom earned his B.A. from East Carolina University and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
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Angela Farag Craddock is a partner at Young Moore and Henderson PA, focusing her practice on helping businesses and institutional clients navigate state administrative litigation and appeals. Her practice includes assisting clients with complex workers' compensation matters, risk management policies, medical cost containment strategies, and in directing care toward evidence-based solutions. She is also a current member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Section Council, and has been selected by her peers for inclusion among North Carolina Super Lawyers' Rising Stars list in workers' compensation practice for 2014-2018, and for Best Lawyers in America for 2020.
Angela has also developed a burgeoning appellate practice across several areas of civil, administrative, and regulatory practice, and leads the firm's appellate practice team. As part of her appellate practice, Angela is active in the Appellate Practice Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, has served on its Appellate Rules Committee, and is frequently called upon to prepare amicus curiae briefs for industry groups in important cases passing through our appellate courts.
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Rita Beard Dorry is an Associate of Lewis & Roberts PLLC in Raleigh. She practices exclusively in the area of workers' compensation defense, representing interests of employers and their insuring agencies. Rita has also spoken at several seminars for continuing education credit regarding best practices before the Office of the Executive Secretary and the ethical impacts of Medical Marijuana with respect to Chapter 97.
Prior to joining Lewis & Roberts PLLC in 2018, Rita served as a Special Deputy Commissioner at the North Carolina Industrial Commission for several years. She is currently a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Wake County Bar, Tenth Judicial Bar, Susie Sharp Inn of Court, and the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys. She currently serves on the NCBA Workers' Compensation Section Council as well as the NCBA Workers' Compensation Fall CLE Co-Chair (defense).
Rita received her undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University in 2011 and her law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2015.
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J. Jackson "Jack" Hardison is a partner at Hardison & Cochran in Raleigh. His practice includes every aspect of representing individuals in Workers' Compensation, from initial filings to appeals that can extend all the way to federal district court. In one of those federal cases, his client secured a $3.5 million recovery that was chosen by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly as one of the notable cases of 2015. His client was a worker who was paralyzed from the waist down when a tree fell on him while on the job in Mebane.
Jack is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a Board-Certified Specialist in Workers Compensation Law. He is a member of the United State District Court, Western District of North Carolina, North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, North Carolina Advocates for Justice and the Wake County Bar Association.
Jack received his B.A. degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina in 1999 and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2004.
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Julia M. Harris temporarily represents the North Carolina Industrial Commission as an Assistant Attorney General with the North Carolina Department of Justice. She provides legal support to the North Carolina Industrial Commission, including the enforcement of civil penalties assessed against non-insured employers.
Prior to joining Attorney General's Office, Julia worked as a paralegal for the North Carolina Industrial Commission in their Fraud and Compliance Division, where she assisted the Attorney General's Office with enforcement of civil penalties assessed against non-insured employers.
Julia earned her J.D. degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan and undergraduate degrees in Criminology and Sociology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
M. Duane Jones is a Special Counsel with Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP in Charlotte. Duane is an experienced and skilled appellate attorney and leads the firm's appellate practice group. He is a Board-Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice. He has over 17 years of appellate experience, with a full time focus on appellate matters since 2010.
Since 2012, Duane has also been active in the North Carolina State Bar Appellate Rules Committee, which meets several times a year to improve and revise the rules governing appellate procedure in North Carolina.
Duane has been selected to the North Carolina Super Lawyers® list, published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazine, from 2015 to 2021 for his Appellate work, and also selected to Business North Carolina's Legal Elite from 2018 to 2020 for his Appellate work.
Duane began his career as a workers' compensation attorney and continues to handle appeals before the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Prior to joining Hedrick Gardner, Duane served as a law clerk to Judge Linda McGee of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Duane received his B.A. degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1992, his M.A. degree from North Carolina State University in 1997 and his J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2001.
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Paul C. McCoy is a partner with Lewis & Roberts. Paul primarily practices in the area of Workers' Compensation defense. Paul is also certified by the Dispute Resolution Commission as a certified mediator. Paul also handles a select number of civil litigation matters each year.
Paul regularly represents a wide variety of self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in all stages of litigation before the North Carolina Industrial Commission and North Carolina appellate courts. Paul has also acted as a presenter and instructor for the North Carolina Industrial Commission's annual conference, as well as for the North Carolina Bar Association. Additionally, Paul regularly presents on hot topics in workers' compensation for his clients. Paul is a member of the North Carolina Industrial Commission Workers' Compensation Section Counsel and has previously served as editor of the Course and Scope publication, a publication dedicated to updating section members on recent developments in North Carolina workers' compensation law.
In his free time, Paul enjoys spending as much time as he can with his wife and children. Paul also has served as a Sunday school teacher and a community fundraising campaign volunteer with the WakeMed Foundation.
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Ashley M. Moore was appointed as Deputy Commissioner in the North Carolina Industrial Commission Raleigh office in 2018. Moore has served most recently as Law Clerk to Chairman Allen. Previously, she served as Law Clerk to former Commissioner Linda Cheatham and as Law Clerk to Vice-Chairman Yolanda K. Stith.
In addition to her work at the Commission, Moore has practiced law in Wake County.
Ashley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and earned her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
William W. "Bill" Peaslee was appointed to serve as a Deputy Commissioner of the North Carolina Industrial Commission in Raleigh in 2016. He served as Chief Deputy Commissioner from June 1, 2016 until April 4, 2018.
Bill came to the Industrial Commission from the North Carolina Department of Administration, where he served as General Counsel. Prior to serving the State, he was in private practice in Cary, North Carolina.
Bill is a Member of the N.C. Property Tax Commission, a former Chairman of the Constitutional Rights & Responsibilities Section of the N.C. Bar Association, and a former member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Bill earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Campbell University Law School.
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Vernon Sumwalt is with The Sumwalt Group Workers' Comp and Trial Lawyers in Charlotte. Vernon has handled approximately 250 workers' compensation hearings, 100 appeals--mostly from cases he has tried--and many other cases before juries and our courts of general jurisdiction in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
Vernon is the immediate past President of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (formerly the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers) and has taught almost 140 state and national classes for lawyers and other professionals. He has also written over 50 books, chapters, and articles on different aspects of workers' compensation and trial law.
Since 2005, Vernon has been a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in the area of Workers' Compensation Law. In 2014, the North Carolina State Bar also certified him as a Specialist in Appellate Practice.
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