Tag Archives: Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys

Firm Attorneys To Speak At Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys Workers Compensation Seminar

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Rod Rehm, Jon Rehm and Brody Ockander will be presenting at the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys Workers Compensation Seminar on Friday April 21st in Omaha. Here are short summaries of what each lawyer will present about:

Brody Ockander

My topic will focus on working with non-English speaking clients. As we all know, non-English speaking immigrants come to this country for many different reasons, but the vast majority end up in labor jobs: jobs that cause work comp injuries. Personally, I have represented clients from over 20 countries; in Nebraska we have a surprising number of immigrants and refugees who relocate to Nebraska for plentiful jobs and cheap housing.

As a result of this melting-pot of injured workers, my seminar presentation will focus on the Ethics of representing non-English speaking clients. Specifically, I will explain what lawyers should do when a non-English speaking client contacts the lawyer; what issues may arise during litigation; and how to handle non-English speaking clients and interpreters during legal proceedings.

I recently wrote a post about immigration status and workers compensation. You can read that post here.

Jon Rehm 

I will present on opioids in workers’ compensation. I plan on spending some time discussing opioid addiction as a work-related medical condition and some of the factual and legal challenges that come with opioid use in a workers’ compensation case. I will also address digestive and bowel issues that arise with opioid use and how those injuries can be covered by workers’ compensation.

Opioid addiction is a major public health and even political issue. Drug formularies are being pushed as a way to combat addiction by reducing the prescription of opioids in workers’ compensation cases. I plan on discussing why drug formularies should raise serious concerns not just from doctors, but from employees and employers.  You can read my blog posts about formularies here, here and here.

Rod Rehm

Rod Rehm will be presenting on the topic of deposition preparation for plaintiffs in workers’ compensation cases. Rod is a Fellow in the College of Workers’ Compensation and has prepared hundreds of injured workers for their depositions in his long legal career. Earlier in his career Rod worked both as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer so he can draw on 40 plus years of litigation experience when it comes to witness preparation.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Firm News, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , , , , , , , .

Brody Ockander Speaks at Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys Seminar

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Brody Ockander

Lawyer Brody Ockander was recently one of the featured speakers at the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA) seminar titled “Nuts and Bolts of Trial.”

His presentation taught over 50 fellow lawyers who attended about the “Ethical Implications of Representation and Fee Sharing Agreements.”

This presentation provided Brody with an excellent opportunity to share his knowledge with other Nebraska lawyers. These seminars are important to the legal profession when continuing to receive updated legal education, a requirement for all licensed attorneys in Nebraska.

I regularly encourage the firm’s attorneys and staff members to participate in continuing education and networking opportunities through professional associations and other occasions, serving as both presenters and lifelong learners.

Thank you to Brody for representing the firm as a presenter to this group. Congratulations for being asked to speak. We are proud of you!

NATA is dedicated to the improvement of the trial practice and preservation of our civil justice system. The Association provides quality continuing legal education. It is active in the legislative process that impacts upon justice in Nebraska. Membership in NATA  is open to all lawyers and law students. All the lawyers at the office of Rehm, Bennett & Moore, P.C., L.L.O., are members of NATA. Firm owner Rod Rehm is a past president and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Firm shareholders Todd Bennett and Jon Rehm are also members of the Board of Directors.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Workers’ Compensation – Safety Net for the Middle Class – Under Constant Attack

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LB 307 would take away the most basic foundation of workers’ compensation

Workers’ compensation law is one of the oldest and most basic protections working middle-class families are given by law. A current article by a pair of Washington state representatives points out this obvious but frequently overlooked truth.

Reps. Bob Hasegawa and Mike Sells point out: “Unless you’re self-employed, you’re probably covered by our state’s workers’ compensation program. It affects pretty much anyone who brings home a paycheck.”

They remind us that all jobs are covered and necessarily so because injury and disease comes about from virtually all kinds of employment: “the ranks of injured employees include everyday office employees: the guy whose back goes out after lifting too many boxes of copy paper; the secretary who can no longer click a computer mouse because of a repetitive-stress injury; or the delivery guy who shatters a hip slipping on a patch of ice. We’re talking about software designers, pizza twirlers, supermarket cashiers.”

Nebraska and Iowa, where our firm practices have solid well established laws (for more than a century) that protect the middle-class workers and their families. The Washington state representatives describe their situation this way: “Our proven, century-old workers’ comp system protects all of these employees and their families from economic ruin in the event of a severe or long-term injury. That’s the good news.”

The never-ending bad news is that this fundamental middle-class protection is under constant assault in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each year various business and insurance interests present bills to state legislatures asking to limit benefits, gain more control over healthcare for the injured, limit healthcare for the injured, and generally weaken protections for middle-class workers and their families.

In Nebraska, I am working with the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA) and other pro-consumer groups to resist the latest round of attacks on the middle class. One of the bills, LB 307, is supported by a deceptively named organization, Nebraskans for Workers’ Compensation Equity and Fairness. This bill would take away the most basic foundation of workers’ compensation laws, the requirement that these laws be interpreted liberally to protect our middle-class workers. The bill also strips workers of physician choice and allows insurance/employers to terminate benefits if you don’t go to company doctors.

Another bill, LB584, provides for treatment guidelines established by a private company in California and enforced by utilization reviews by other private businesses, including consulting doctors from all over the United States and perhaps the world. Having Nebraska physicians second-guessed by someone from another state or country seems far from fair and hardly protective of physicians or workers’ rights.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Todd Bennett Serves NATA as Seminar Presenter

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Attorney Todd Bennett

The Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA) Workers’ Compensation Seminar was recently held in Omaha. Firm partner Todd Bennett was one of the presenters to the almost 90 people who braved the winter weather to attend. He discussed “Farm Workers Under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.”

He was motivated to share his expertise because of his experiences representing farm workers, Bennett said. Injured workers, including farm workers, need the protection and benefits that workers’ compensation can provide, but many states’ limit how workers’ compensation is applied to farm workers.

“It is a web of statutory exceptions that you have to wind through in order to obtain a recovery,” Bennett said. “Working in a farming operation is dangerous business. Despite being the staple profession that helped make this country, thousands are injured and hundreds die each year due to the dangerous functions and exposures they face.”

Generally, farm and ranch hands are not included under workers’ compensation coverage and benefits, Bennett said.  However, there are many exceptions that would bring a person under workers’ compensation coverage, and then the worker would receive the protections and benefits of someone who is injured on the job and unrelated to the owner of the farming operation. The statute in Nebraska that applies here is §48-106 (7). Because an employer has to have an employee sign the following written notice either when hired or at least 30 days before the employee’s injury for the exemption to hold: “In this employment you will not be covered by the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, and you will not be compensated under the act if you are injured on the job or suffer an occupational disease. You should plan accordingly.” If this process isn’t done, according to the statute, then the employer can be held liable and included in the workers’ compensation act “for any unrelated employee to whom such notice was not given.”

Helping guide injured farm workers and others through the statutes is why Bennett believes in his work and made this subject the focus of his presentation.

“Farming is dangerous work, and many are injured and several die performing this work. Many accidents are preventable, and despite having a valid claim, many go without the statutory benefits they deserve. Many also think ‘lawyer’ is a dirty word. However, knowing how to lead through the steps in the law and knowing which forum to bring the case in order to obtain a recovery for a farm or ranch hand is hard to do, but it is a necessary and noble thing for those in need. It’s an honor to bring justice to those who deserve it and are in need of it.”

Firm associates Brody Ockander and Brianne Rohner also attended the NATA event. The program was approved for continuing education by both Nebraska and Iowa MCLE Commissions, according to the NATA website.

It is important for attorneys to stay current with the law, and the firm’s members are encouraged to participate in continuing education and networking opportunities through professional associations. It is also helpful for attorneys to share legal knowledge through presenting at professional development opportunities like the NATA seminar. Over 510 people, including law students, are NATA members.

Bennett also recently attended the Iowa Association for Justice’s (IAJ) 22nd Annual Workers’ Compensation seminar, as he is licensed to practice in both Iowa and Nebraska. Topics covered included the interplay between workers’ compensation and immigration; unemployment law basics; understanding diagnostic testing; understanding the process of further review on appeal; and addressing issues in representing over-the-road truck drivers.

“This event was valuable to aid in the process of representing many workers with many and different issues as they continue to fight for the same rights when they face dealing with work injuries,” Bennett said.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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