FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2023
8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Marijuana Use and How It Can Alter Judgment, Perception and Behavior†
Carla J. Kinslow, Ph.D., Rimkus, Houston, TX
Gain a better understanding of the effects of marijuana use (both recreationally and medicinally) on attorneys and claimants, how those effects relate to risk of accident and injury, and how toxicology can be used to help you understand these risks before an accident occurs.
10:00 Break
10:10 It's a Grey Matter (of Law)
Dr. O. Del Curling Jr., Neurosurgery and Pain Specialists, Winston-Salem
Casey Francis, The Deuterman Law Group, Greensboro
Amy Pagani, Willson Jones Carter & Baxley, Raleigh
Hear from a neurosurgeon and two experienced workers' compensation attorneys as they discuss traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and permanent partial disability (PPD) ratings.
11:40 Lunch Break
1:00 Forms and Motions Practice Before the Claims Administration Section and the Executive Secretary's Office
Brittany Brown Walton, North Carolina Industrial Commission, Raleigh
Meredith Henderson, North Carolina Industrial Commission, Raleigh
Receive practical tips on arguing Form 24s and Form 23s and medical motions, followed by a discussion of assigning discretionary awards under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-31.
2:00 Break
2:10 Labor Marker and Vocational Rehabilitation Implications of the Pandemic
Michael A. Fryar, Fryar Rehabilitation Services, Kernersville
Gina Vieceli, Professional Vocational Services, Holly Springs
This session provides an analysis of the changes in vocational rehabilitation during and after the pandemic. The speakers also evaluate labor market changes and the overall subsequent impact.
3:10 Break
3:20 Navigating Mediation Ethics Challenges While Advocating for Your Client≠ *
Jacqueline R. "Jackie" Clare, Mediator, Raleigh
Thomas M. "Tom" Clare, Mediator, Raleigh
Dolph Sumner, Mullen Holland & Cooper, Gastonia
During this discussion, panelists explore issues that arise within mediation and how to effectively maintain ethical standards while still zealously representing your client.
4:20 Adjourn for the day
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2023
8:55 Introductions and Announcements
9:00 Return-to-Work Issues in Workers' Compensation
Dr. Mark Dumonski, Guilford Orthopedics, Greensboro
Hear a physician's perspective on returning injured employees back to work.
10:00 Break
10:10 Murdaugh, Murder and Murky Ethics*
Charles "Trey" Collier III, The Collier Law Firm, Charlotte
Brian Groesser, Midkiff Muncie & Ross, Raleigh
Join us for a discussion of the various ethical pitfalls centered around the notorious Alex Murdaugh murder case in South Carolina.
11:10 Break
11:20 Case Law Update
Heather T. Baker, Teague Campbell, Raleigh
Cameron D. Simmons, Cameron Simmons Law, Wilmington
12:50 Adjourn
* Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit
† Indicates portion providing Substance Abuse/Mental Health credit
≠ Indicates portion providing NC Dispute Resolution Commission Continuing Mediator Education
Thank you for joining us for Day 1 of We're Talking About Practice? (The Practice of Workers' Compensation Law) (2023 Workers' Compensation Section Program). We'll see you tomorrow!
Practice does not make perfect. But often we feel the need to be perfect within our own practice.
Heather T. Baker is a Partner at Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham in Raleigh.
Heather is originally from New Jersey, but grew up in North Carolina and went on to graduate from N.C. State University with a degree in English. A high school teacher instilled in her the importance of being able to write and say exactly what you mean, and Heather has continued to love and develop this skill set in both the written and spoken word. Since graduating from UNC Chapel Hill School of Law in 2009, Heather has focused her practice on workers' compensation and is an integral member of Teague Campbell's workers' compensation team. She practices with a comprehensive understanding of the law while balancing each of her clients' specific needs. Heather has an impressive record advocating for her clients in and out of the courtroom.
Within the realm of workers' compensation in North Carolina, Heather represents employers across industries, some of which include construction, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, utilities, and vegetation management. She is regularly asked to speak at local and national conferences, client seminars, and other industry events. Heather has been honored to speak annually at the NC Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Seminar and has also spoken at the NC Bar Association's Annual Review Meeting. She currently serves as Secretary of the NC Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Section Council for the 2020/2021 session and will serve as Vice-Chair in the 2021/2022 year. Heather is also an active member of the National Workers' Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN), a network of prominent insurance defense firms throughout the United States and Canada. She is currently serving as the Southeast Regional Chair and regularly speaks at NWCDN conferences.
Community is important to Heather and she has made it a priority to invest in her local community. During law school, she helped co-found a mentoring program, Graduate2Graduate, which paired law school students with local high school students who were identified as academically at risk. Heather went on to assist with the launch of Lawyers 4 Literacy in Wake County, a volunteer organization that pairs lawyers in the area with elementary school children to increase literacy and interest in history and civics. More recently, in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public education, Heather volunteered to assist with fundraising for the Project for Equitable Access in Remote Learning (PEARL), which aims to mitigate the education equity gap that has intensified as a result of COVID-19 by providing support for high school students in Raleigh, North Carolina. Heather is also the Chair of the firm's Mentoring Committee, where she enjoys working with associates and other newer attorneys in the legal community.
Heather is a proud resident of downtown Raleigh. She and her husband, Mike, met while attending N.C. State University and they love living in Raleigh. They have two young daughters who keep them on their toes. Heather is an avid runner and enjoys participating in marathons across the country. The Boston marathon holds a special place in her heart. When not working, wrangling children, or running, Heather enjoys traveling. She and Mike most recently traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia and continue to add to their list of places to visit.
Click here for more information about Heather.
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.
Click here for more information about Jackie.
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.
Click here for more information about Tom.
Charles “Trey” Collier III is an attorney at The Collier Law Firm in Charlotte. He began his legal career working for a large defense firm that represented employers and insurance companies in workers' compensation cases. In other words, doing the opposite of what he does now. Even though Trey quickly discovered that he'd rather fight on the side of injured workers instead of defend big insurance carriers, his initial experience on the other side of the courtroom has given Trey a unique and invaluable perspective. He knows how both sides of a workers' compensation case think. He knows the process. And he knows what employers and their insurance companies are ultimately trying to achieve.
Trey has appeared before the deputy commissioners of the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the Full Commission, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and the North Carolina District and Superior Courts. He has also spoken on a wide array of topics relating to workers' compensation law in North Carolina.
A native of Salisbury, Trey earned a double major in history and political science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before receiving his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law.
Click here for more information about Trey.
Dr. O. Del Curling Jr. is a neurological surgeon with Neurosurgery and Pain Specialists in Winston-Salem. He has practiced in central NC since 1991 and is the primary physician provider in the practice, though in recent years has focused primarily on non-surgical management of brain, spine and peripheral nerve injuries, as well as treatment of other related pain issues. He has a particular interest in medicolegal cases, and regularly performs independent neurosurgical and pain evaluations (IMEs), second surgical opinions, rating evaluations, and records' reviews, while also maintaining an active clinical practice focused predominantly on the treatment of various neurosurgical and other related pain problems.
In his 30+ years as a neurosurgeon, Dr. Curling has worked in various practice settings, including Carolina Neurosurgical Associates, Winston Neurological and Spinal Surgery Associates, Neurosurgical Evaluations of the Carolinas, Preferred Pain Management & Spine Care, and most recently Neurosurgery and Pain Specialists. After several years in a typical active operative neurosurgical practice in Winston Salem, during which time he performed several thousand brain, spine, and nerve surgeries, Dr. Curling was involved in a significant motor vehicle accident, following which he underwent multiple spine surgeries himself. Due to persistent difficulty with prolonged standing following his own back surgeries, he subsequently stopped performing major surgical procedures and has since pursued a strictly office-based practice, focused on evaluation and predominantly non-operative treatment of neurosurgical and other pain-related issues.
Although Dr. Curling presently sees patients only in the Winston Salem office, he has at times in the past also maintained offices in Kernersville, Charlotte, Greensboro, and New Bern.
The primary goal of Neurosurgery and Pain Specialists is to provide a unique opportunity to obtain thorough and thoughtful evaluations and subsequent treatment (when indicated) to help patients achieve their optimal results and return to a productive lifestyle, whether that be at work or at home. Unlike the typical mechanized, business-driven model that has engulfed much of "modern" medicine, Dr. Curling still adheres to the belief that time and attention to detail for each and every patient's case leads to optimal results. The primary goal of the practice is to help all patients receive a full evaluation and understanding of their condition and thereafter to help them to minimize their pain, recover from their injuries, and return to a more functional state. A secondary goal of the practice is to help all parties involved in each case (whether the patient and family, the adjusters or case managers, the attorneys, or others) to realize the efficiencies to be gained by having patients evaluated early in their course by a highly trained specialist who devotes the time and energy to focus on the big picture and whose goal is to develop a tailored approach to navigate the patient from injury to MMI and a return to productivity (thereby avoiding the all too frequent, inefficient, and frequently frustrating approach of having the patient/claimant wind their way over the course of months or years between multiple providers and multiple practices, with no single individual coordinating care). While many services can be performed in house, Dr. Curling also maintains relationships with specific providers in the area and can facilitate referral as needed for additional services that may not be presently available in house, whether pain psychology evaluation/treatment, neuropsychological evaluation, cognitive rehabilitation, physical therapy, brain or spinal surgery, or others.
Dr. Curling earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in Chemistry and Religion from Duke University and his D.M. from University of Virginia School of Medicine. He did his residency training in general surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH and neurological surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He also has a M.B.A from Auburn University. He is ceritified by the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners. He holds professional memberships with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Joint Section of the AANS and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerve, Joint Section of the AANS and CNS on Pain, North Carolina Neurosurgical Society, North Carolina Spine Society and Pain Society of the Carolinas.
Click here for more information about Dr. Curling.
Dr. Mark Dumonski is a spine surgeon with Guilford Orthopedics in Greensboro. He specializes in surgical and non-surgical conditions related to the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, and is board-certified in orthopaedic surgery. His surgical expertise includes spinal decompressive procedures, routine and complex spinal fusions, minimally invasive procedures, as well as motion preservation procedures such as artificial disc replacement.
Prior to joining Guilford Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center in 2010, he proudly trained at the country's highest-regarded spine institutions. After completing his undergraduate training and medical school at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Dumonski completed his orthopaedic residency at Rush University in Chicago, IL. There, as chief resident, he was awarded "Resident Teacher of the Year" by his peers, a clear reflection of his ongoing commitment to ensuring every patient a full and thorough understanding of his or her spinal condition and its associated treatment options. After residency, Dr. Dumonski dedicated an additional year of training at a spine surgery fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. There, he gained valuable experience in diverse and complex conditions of the spine, again training with the world's leading spine surgeons. Throughout residency and fellowship, Dr. Dumonski has had the unique distinction of training extensively with both orthopaedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons, and as a result, is uniquely able to approach any given patient from both perspectives.
Over the course of his practice at Guilford Orthopaedics, Dr. Dumonski has become well-known for his exceptional bedside manner and patient outcomes.
Dr. Dumonski and his high-school sweetheart moved to North Carolina in 2010, and they have absolutely loved every aspect of living in the region ever since. An avid athlete, Dr. Dumonski particularly enjoys running and has completed 14 marathons. He also regularly plays drums with the worship team at Daystar Church in Greensboro. When he's not treating patients, exercising, or leading worship, he will very likely be found in Summerfield with his wife, Wendy, their twin girls, Alexa and Brianna, and his son, Zachary.
Click here for more information about Dr. Dumonski.
Casey Francis is a Senior Associate with The Deuterman Law Group in Greensboro. She represents injured people in their workers' compensation claims. She joined the Deuterman Law Group in 2011 as an associate attorney in workers' compensation, following previous stints here as a law clerk and new client coordinator. In 2016, Casey was one of a select group of attorneys in the state who qualified as a Board Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation, a title that was renewed in 2022.
Since she joined the firm, Casey has been the lead attorney on workers' comp cases involving Spanish-speaking clients with a focus on representing undocumented workers in their claims. She has unmatched experience in the state in these kinds of cases. She has litigated and won cases at all levels of the NC Industrial Commission, the NC Court of Appeals and NC Supreme Court.
Casey is actively involved in a number of professional development groups, including the NC Bar Association and the NC Advocates for Justice (NCAJ). Others in the legal field consider Casey a leader in workers' compensation law, especially cases involving undocumented workers.
Casey has spoken at several Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars across the state, teaching other attorneys how to successfully represent undocumented clients in their workers' compensation claims, navigate issues in Medicare, obtain medical treatment, and advocate for injured workers in vocational rehabilitation. She also planned a CLE on workers' compensation for the NC Bar Association.
Casey earned her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science, Spanish Language and Literature; Middle Eastern Studies graduated from NC State Univeristy. Casey speaks Spanish and studied Arabic in college. She earned her J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Click here for more information about Casey.
Michael A. Fryar is a rehabilitation consultant and case manager at Fryar Rehabilitation Services in Kernersville. He provides independent case management and rehabilitative consultant services. He has worked as a Rehabilitation Charge Nurse for the brain injury, spinal cord injury and general rehabilitation units of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. In total, he has worked over 22 years within the vocational rehabilitation, case management and life care planning fields.
Michael has served as the past Secretary for the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals' (IARP) National Forensic Board. He is currently an active member of the Rehabilitation and Disability Case Management (RDCM) National Board and was appointed to the Education Subcommittee for the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP). More recently, he became and is currently Chair for the Rehabilitation and Disability Case Management (RDCM) section of IARP.
Michael is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Registered Nurse (RN), Certified Case Manager (CCM) and Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP). He is also a registered Qualified Rehabilitation Professional (QRP) through the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
Michael earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He subsequently graduated, summa cum laude, with a dual Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling and Vocational Evaluation, from East Carolina University. During 2005, he completed a 120-hour post-graduate training program in life care planning through Kaplan University with lead instructor, Dr. Paul Deutsch, the founder of life care planning process. Finally, Michael completed his associate degree in Nursing at Sampson Community College.
Click here for more information about Michael.
Brian C. Groesser is the Director, Managing Partner of Raleigh Office at Midkiff Muncie & Ross PC. His entire practice is dedicated to serving the needs of employers and insurance carriers in defending workers' compensation claims in North Carolina. He places strong emphasis on the relationships he has with his clients while providing efficient and effective representation. He has successfully defended and closed claims at all levels of the Industrial Commission.
Since 2017, Brian has hosted a monthly webinar for clients called Legal Lunch Live wherein he discusses news from the Industrial Commission, compensability scenarios, doctor comparisons, and case law updates. Since 2023, he has hosted a one-of-its kind podcast called Claim Closure discussing North Carolina workers' compensation issues. He conducts yearly presentations for clients, as well as the NCBA and the Industrial Commission. He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell, listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and is named to North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars.
Brian earned his A.B, magna cum laude, in Political Science from University of Michigan and his J.D., magna cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Click here for more information about Brian.
Meredith R. Henderson is the Executive Secretary of the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Prior to being named Executive Secretary, Meredith worked as a Special Deputy Commissioner in the Executive Secretary's Office and as law clerk and counsel to former Chair Pamela T. Young. She has also served as General Counsel and Rulemaking Coordinator for the Commission.
Meredith earned her B.A. from N.C. State University and J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. After clerking for former Chief Judge John C. Martin of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, Meredith practiced law in Raleigh, focusing primarily on workers' compensation and contract litigation, before joining the staff of the Industrial Commission.
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Carla J. Kinslow, Ph.D. is Director, Toxicology and Food Safety Practice at Rimkus in Houston, TX (via Portland, OR). She is a toxicologist with over 26 years of biomedical, regulatory, and environmental experience. She has expertise in inhalation and oral toxicology; derivation of regulatory screening values for oral and inhalation exposure, toxicogenomics; toxicological risk assessment and communication of such risk to diverse stakeholders; human health impacts analysis from emission events; air, soil, and water monitoring data; modeling data related to ambient air and drinking water quality; water contamination from oil and gas operations; and stakeholder communication.
Carla specializes in risk-based evaluation of air, soil, and groundwater toxicology under the USEPA, as well as state and federal guidelines. She has served as manager for various regulatory projects where she helped design and implement air monitoring networks, groundwater monitoring projects, and remediation scopes, with subsequent assessment and communication of such human health impacts based on collected data. She has extensive experience in the evaluation of drug and alcohol impairment and "DRAM" shop cases.
Carla also has extensive experience in the evaluation of pesticide/herbicide overspray cases as well as health risks based on genetic predisposition to disease from environmental, occupational, and pharmaceutical exposures. Notably, she is also an environmental microbiologist and regularly conducts indoor air quality mold investigations and beer contamination evaluations.
Carla earned her B.A. in Biology from Indiana University Southeast, her M.S. in Molecular Phycology/Marine Ecology from Michigan Technological University and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, Cell Biology/Molecular Toxicology from University of Texas Medical Branch.
Click here for more information about Carla.
Amy Pagani is a managing attorney at Willson Jones Carter & Baxley in Raleigh.
Amy served as a mediator in small claims court for two years while in law school. She practiced for two years as in-house counsel focusing on international compliance and contract law before focusing exclusively on workers' compensation.
Amy is a member of both the North Carolina and Ohio Bar Associations.
Amy received her B.S. in Business Economics from Miami University and her J.D./M.B.A. from Capital University, with a concentration in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Born in Columbus, OH, and raised in Cincinnati, Amy is happy to now live in Cary with her family. Outside of her practice, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family, especially her husband, daughter, and dog.
Click here for more information about Amy.
Cameron D. Simmons is the owner of Cameron Simmons Law PLLC in Wilmington. He is also Of Counsel with several other local firms, running their workers' compensation practices. Cameron is a Board-Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation and has been since 2005. He is also a certified mediator.
Cameron was in college a long time and spent a considerable amount of time watching WVU football while in grad and law school at West Virginia University. Unfortunately, his beloved Mountaineers are terrible right now. Despite being born and raised in West Virginia, Cameron somehow finds time to wear shoes (but not always a shirt) and has all his teeth.
After graduating in 1999, Cameron moved to North Carolina and began practicing on the dark side of the force with McAngus Goudelock and Courie. He then moved to the beach and helped open the Wilmington office of Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog. After years of evil, he saw that light and switched to the Plaintiff's side of the v in 2006. His practice now is focused almost solely on Plaintiff's workers' compensation and mediation.
Cameron has handled cases at all levels of the Industrial Commission and the appellate courts. He has been and is presently on some boards and has been an officer of stuff here and there…but that's kinda boring. What's not boring is that he lives on a hobby farm in Wilmington, with tons of animals, his smoke show partner Lindsay and their 2 teenage boys (1 of which is bad). The fact that both kids are still alive is a miracle that Cameron should receive complete credit for.
P.S. Cameron picked his profile picture because it represents the only running sport in which Cameron can beat Heather.
Click here for more information about Cameron.
Dolph Sumner is a shareholder at Mullen Holland & Cooper in Gastonia. He has been with the firm since 1987, and currently serves as its President. He practices primarily in the area of defense of workers' compensation and he is a certified mediator with the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission.
Dolph has been awarded the highest professional rating of "AV Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell. He has received the Gaston County Volunteer Lawyer Distinguished Service award and the NC Bar Association's Volunteer Service award for six years. He also received the State of North Carolina Pro Bono Service Award in 1996. He has been named Top Worker's Compensation Lawyer in the Charlotte Area by Best Lawyers and he has also been honored in the area of workers' compensation as a Top 100 North Carolina Super Lawyer, a member of North Carolina Business Magazine's Legal Elite and a LexisNexis Preeminent Lawyer. He is also a past president of the Gaston County Bar and Boys and Girls club.
Dolph is a member of the Gaston County, North Carolina and American Bar Associations and the North Carolina State Bar.
Dolph has lectured extensively on workers' compensation issues to legal, employer, and insurance groups. He has served as a member of the North Carolina State Bar Committee on workers' compensation, along with addressing numerous seminars on "Advanced Workers' Compensation." He also serves as a mediator for the N.C. Workers' Compensation Board.
Dolph earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from Wake Forest University Law School.
Click here for more information about Dolph.
Gina Vieceli is a Vocational Specialist at Professional Vocational Services in Holly Springs. She has worked in the field of vocational rehabilitation since 1992. Her experience involves case management, vocational counseling, job analysis, job placement, expert testimony, labor market research, vocational assessment, transferable skills analyses and medical case management.
Gina earned her B.A. in Psychology and a M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling and Vocational Evaluation from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
After completing school, she worked for several years as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and Assistant Supervisor for the State of Missouri. She has worked in the private rehabilitation since 1997 in the areas of workers' compensation, long term disability, and personal injury.
Gina is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a qualified rehabilitation professional in NC, and has served as a vocational expert and consultant.
Click here for more information about Gina.
Jack P. Waissen is an associate attorney at Deuterman Law Group in Greensboro. He joined the firm in 2016 as an associate attorney in workers’ compensation, after graduating law school and working numerous summer associates positions in Alabama where he gained experience in wrongful death, personal injury, insurance defense, and corporate litigation.
Jack is actively involved in a number of professional development groups, including the N.C. Bar Association and the N.C. Advocates for Justice (NCAJ). He is currently serving a three-year term as a Council Member on the North Carolina Bar Association Worker's Compensation Section Council. As part of his responsibilities, he is on the Continuing Learning Education (CLE) Committee where he plans CLEs on workers' compensation for the N.C. Bar Association.
Jack has litigated and won cases at all levels of the N.C. Industrial Commission and the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Jack graduated, summa cum laude, from N.C. Central University with a double major in political science and criminal justice. He earned his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. While in law school, he worked as a research assistant for several professors, served as articles editor for The Journal of the Legal Profession, and volunteered at Raise the Bar, a 6th grade mentoring program in Alabama.
Originally from Basingstoke, England, a town about 50 miles southwest of London, Jack came to the United States on a tennis scholarship at N.C. Central.
Click here for more information about Jack.
Brittany Brown Walton is the Director of Claims Administration at the North Carolina Industrial Commission in Raleigh. She joined the Commission in January of 2022. She brings significant workers' compensation experience to the Commission, having served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Workers' Compensation Section of the North Carolina Department of Justice since 2014. She has litigated complex workers' compensation matters and represented State agencies in criminal and civil cases before the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Brittany earned her B.A., with honors, in Political Science, with a minor in Spanish, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law, where she served as a Senior Editor on the North Carolina Central University Law Review.
Click here for more information about Brittany.
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