Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The Claimant alleged that two chemical exposure events caused a pulmonary injury that resulted in more than $100,000.00 in accrued benefits and a claim for permanent and total disability benefits.
The Result
Despite a treating physician attempting to establish a causal connection between the claimant’s pulmonary conditions and his claimed exposures, we were able to succeed on a full defense of the claim. This outcome was the result of a combination of key steps, including a strong cross-examination of the treating physician, a credible examining physician who provided excellent deposition testimony, critical surveillance and confident cross-examination of the claimant at trial. The Claimant has sought appeal of this decision.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The claimant alleged that his job activities as a computer electrical technician caused his bi-lateral carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes.
The Result
The Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy established evidence through an occupational therapist as to the physical requirements of claimant’s job. The therapist found that job would generally be considered safe. The results from the therapist, along with a detailed job description, were then sent to the employer’s evaluating physician for his review. After reviewing all of the documentation and performing a physical examination, the doctor found that the claimant’s conditions were not related to his job activities. The arbitrator found the defense evidence compelling and ruled in their favor. The arbitrator found that there was no established connection between the claimant’s job duties and his medical conditions. The claim was denied in full.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
Claimant alleged that his work accident caused his hernia and subsequent need for treatment.
The Result
In collaboration with the employer, the Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy established a two-pronged defense to the claim. The defense entailed both a legal and a factual defense, with each providing an independent basis for finding in our client’s favor. Lemp & Murphy Attorneys prevailed on both fronts, showing that proper notice of the accident was not given as required by the Act and that there was no medical connection between the claimant’s work activities and his medical condition. The claim was denied in full by the arbitrator, with the denial upheld by the Commission on review.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The claimant alleged an injury at work, necessitating extensive spine surgery. Dr. Gornet performed the surgery which had been denied by the employer.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy defended the claim based on accident, causation, and the reasonableness and necessity of Dr. Gornet’s treatment. To support our defense, we participated in a rigorous cross examination of Dr. Gornet, obtaining many key admissions. We also obtained a favorable medical opinion of our own and were able to bolster the physician’s opinions during his deposition. Finally, we presented the testimony of several lay witnesses at trial, establishing that the facts surrounding the claim did not add up. The Arbitrator denied the claim based both the legal and the factual defenses presented by the Attorneys from Lemp & Murphy. The arbitrator specifically referenced admissions obtained from Dr. Gornet during his cross examination as a basis for its opinion. The denial of compensability was upheld at the Commission, the Circuit Court, and by the Illinois Court of Appeals.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The claimant alleged that his bi-lateral carpal tunnel syndromes were related to his job activities as an operator with Ameren. The claim handler, along with the Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy, established early in the claim the steps that would be necessary for a successful defense.
The Result
The defense team collected a detailed job description that it then provided to its examining physician. The Attorneys then turned their focus to the medical depositions, knowing that this case would be won by the side with the most compelling medical testimony. Through careful direct and cross examination of the medical experts, the Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy continued to refine the defense position. When the case was presented at trial, the Attorneys directed the claimant’s testimony so as strengthen the position of their medical expert, while undermining the bases for the claimant’s physician. The strategy worked, as the arbitrator found that the weight of the evidence presented at trial by Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy supported a finding that the wrist conditions were not caused by work activities. All claims for benefits were denied. This decision was upheld on review by the Commission.
Centaur Building Services
Minimal Permanency on Accepted Claim
The Allegations
This claim involved a compensable injury regarding a hernia and a low back injury. Prior to hearing the employer made several attempts to reach a compromised settlement agreement, but the claimant was only interested in the pot of gold that he sought at the end of the rainbow.
The Result
That pot of gold proved to be an illusion for the claimant, with the Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy successfully arguing against the claim for permanent and total disability. In line with the Attorneys’ request, the Judge awarded a minimal amount of permanent disability and found that the injury did not impede the claimant’s ability to return to the workforce. Counsel for the claimant appealed this decision and the Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy were successful in having the appeal dismissed on procedural grounds.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
Claimant alleged that her job duties caused her to develop bi-lateral carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes. As a result, she demanded that her employer provide her with medical treatment, TTD, and permanent partial disability.
The Result
Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy were successful in arguing that the claimant had failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that her conditions were caused by her job activities. The arbitrator accepted the position of the Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy and denied the claim; the denial was upheld by the Commission.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
Claimant alleged she was injured when she fell while walking across the parking lot on her way to enter the store for work
The Result
As parking lot cases are extremely fact specific and can often turn on one key fact, the Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy performed exhaustive legal research into the requirement of the law and the facts that are found to be most compelling by arbitrators and reviewing courts in similar cases. The Lemp & Murphy Attorneys then applied the focal facts in this case to those legal standards, suggesting that the fall was outside the purview of the Act. The Arbitrator and the Commission on review agreed, both holding that the claimant’s activities at the time of her fall took her outside the scope of her employment.
Industrial Transport
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The claimant alleged an injury having resulted from a “flying gladhand” (a “gladhand” is the metal connector that serves to connect the brake lines from a trailer to the cab of a truck).
The Result
Through the extensive and compelling testimony of a biomechanical engineer, Lemp & Murphy Attorneys were able to show that the forces involved in a gladhand becoming disconnected and flying through the air were not sufficient to cause the injuries that claimant allegedly sustained. The employer was found to not be liable for any claimed medical treatment, TTD, or permanent disability. The denial of the claim was upheld on review by the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission.
Psychiatric Damages Claim Denied and Physical Disability Mitigated
The Allegations
Claimant alleged permanent total disability against the employer. The claim consisted of an accepted cervical surgery and an accepted shoulder surgery, with disputes as to other body parts and allegations of employer responsibility for extensive post traumatic psychiatric treatment and alleged permanent total disability.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy were able to convince the Judge that our liability should be limited to the body parts that had previously been accepted by the employer. The Judge’s award significantly limited the permanent partial disability relating to those body parts and rejected any claim for psychiatric treatment or disability. The Judge also denied the claim for permanent total disability.
Technicolor Universal
Media Services
Extreme Medical Costs Avoided and Minimal Damages Awarded
The Allegations
This interesting case involved two claimed injuries with the same employer, but with different insurance companies at risk for each date of injury. The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy were retained to represent the insurance company with coverage for the first date of accident. Preliminary medical records and the claimant’s version of events pointed to the first accident as the cause for a significant injury that led to a multilevel spine surgery at the direction of Dr. Gornet.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy were able to cultivate medical testimony refuting those assertions. The Arbitrator found that the accident for which our client was liable resulted in relatively minor permanent partial disability, with the subsequent carrier being found responsible TTD and the surgery performed by Dr. Gornet as well as the enhanced permanency that follows such a surgery. The favorable award received by our client was upheld by the Commission.
Future Medical Treatment and Permanent and Total Disability Avoided on Accepted Claim
The Allegations
Following a specific trauma with significant shoulder and spine involvement, the claimant alleged permanent total disability against the employer. Claimant’s attorney obtained an opinion from Dr. Koprivica and a vocational report from Terry Cordray suggesting permanent total disability based on the last injury alone, resulting in potential full liability against the employer. The defense made arrangements for an evaluation with Dr. Belz, and a vocational assessment with Jim England.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy were successful at trial in mitigating the employer’s exposure, with the Judge ordering only permanent partial disability against their client, deflecting permanent total disability to the Second Injury Fund. The Award also denied all claimed future medical treatment related to the primary claim. This decision was upheld on review through the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.
CPC Logistics
Future Medical Treatment Denied and Minimal Permanency Awarded
The Allegations
This case involved a lumbar fusion, a right shoulder surgery, and a multi-level cervical surgery proposed by Dr. Gornet. While there were disputes as to the level of permanent disability related to each of these conditions and regarding the liability for the shoulder surgery in general, the key dispute was the liability for the very expensive neck surgery proposed by Dr. Gornet.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy conducted multiple medical depositions, including from treating physicians, Dr. deGrange, the employer’s evaluating physician, and Dr. Gornet. The Arbitrator awarded 25% body as a whole based on the accepted lumbar fusion, 25% loss of use of the right arm with regard to the disputed right shoulder surgery. With regard to the cervical claim, the Arbitrator found that the employer was responsible only for a soft tissue cervical injury. Based upon the arguments of Attorneys for Lemp & Murphy, any contemplated treatment at the direction of Dr. Gornet was denied based on his being beyond the choice of physicians, there being a lack of medical causation, and there being no proof that the proposed treatment was reasonable or necessary.
Defense Verdict
The Allegations
The claimant alleged carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of repetitive clerical job duties, including extensive data entry and typing. The employer denied that the condition was work related.
The Result
The Attorneys at Lemp & Murphy presented evidence as to collateral non occupational risk factors that were more likely to be the basis for claimant’s condition. They also presented the arbitrator with a compelling medical opinion from their examining physician, refuting causation. Following intense depositions and a well-orchestrated trial strategy, the Attorneys presented their case at trial. The Arbitrator found that the weight of the evidence supported a finding that Ameren was not responsible for either causing or aggravating claimant’s carpal tunnel syndrome. This denial was upheld by the Commission.