Bulk Settlement Days

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The Workers Compensation community is small. We see the same folks again and again. Applicant’s counsel commonly have an inventory of cases with one carrier or TPA, perhaps involving a single employer. Claims professionals and defense counsel often have multiple claims with one applicant’s attorney. These scenarios beg for an efficient resolution.

A litigation management technique called a Bulk Settlement Day involves scheduling multiple cases for mediation with the same players on the same day, same place, one after the other. Some people use the term Block Settlement Day for the same idea, referring to a block of cases.

Scheduling a Settlement Day is not as daunting as you may think. Start with a letter suggesting several cases you know are good settlement candidates. Invite the addressee to suggest others. If you need help composing your letter, please contact me for a form. 

Heartsink Patients

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“Heartsink” is the term for how the treater feels when it is difficult if not impossible to help patients with chronic pain and disability. A 1989 Toronto Star editorial placed these patients into four categories: dependent clingers, entitled demanders, manipulative help-rejecters, and self-destructive deniers.
You know these injured workers. They are the ones whose life is wrapped up in their claim. The only way they will give up that obsession is to replace it with a plan for life after claim closure.Injured workers need to feel that a settlement is the just result. They need adequate compensation to create a safety net for future medical care. A WCAB hearing is often just a prelude to more conflict.

Mediation can provide the forum to help the injured worker create a plan for life without an ongoing claim.