Presented June 9, 2005

Overview of Senate Bill 1004 and the Move Toward Privatization of Workers' Compensation in WV
•Creation of the Mutual Company •Fund Formation •New Fund •Old Fund •Mutualization Transition Fund •Uninsured Employers Fund •Guaranty Risk Pool •Self-insurance Risk Pool •Self Insured Employers •Private Carriers Fund •Assigned Risk Fund •Settlement •Private Carriers •Rate Making •Tort Protections for Carriers •New Rules and Revised Rules Under Senate Bill 2013 and Senate Bill 1004
Thomas J. Obrokta Jr., Esquire, General Counsel, Workers' Compensation Commission

The West Virginia Insurance Commission:  The New Player in the Workers' Compensation Game
Mary Jane Pickens, Esquire, General Counsel, West Virginia Insurance Commission Legal Division

The Office of Judges
•The Proposed Rule Changes •How Will the Process Work? •Who Are the Parties? •Who Makes Claim Decisions? •Fee Petition Process •Expert Witnesses •Other Issues
The Honorable Timothy J. Leach, Chief Administrative Law Judge, Workers' Compensation Office of Judges

From State Fund to Privatization:  What Will Our New System Look Like?
•"Old Fund” Claim Administration and Defense •What Happens to Collection Activities? •What Changes for the Self-Insureds? •Other Issues
Timothy E. Huffman, Esquire, Jackson Kelly PLLC

The Role of Lawyers in the New System in the Contesting and Defending Claims
Timothy E. Huffman, Esquire, Jackson Kelly, PLLC
Edward Garth Atkins, Esquire, Atkins Law Offices

An Update on the Mandolidis Statute and an Update on Recent WV Case Law
Professor Thomas C. Cady, WVU College of Law

This seminar is worth 7.8 WV MCLE credits