The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman, a leading California defense firm, proudly announces the elevation of Marla Shah to Partner. Marla, who has been a valued member of this firm since 2015, has over 15 years’ experience as a workers’ compensation defense attorney, specializing in the defense of health and medical organizations. “Marla is …
Sheena Ghassemi Named as Partner
The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman, a leading California defense firm, proudly announces the elevation of Sheena Ghassemi to Partner. Sheena, who has been an attorney with this firm since 2021, specializes in defending employers, insurers, third-party administrators, self-insured groups, and nonprofit organizations in workers’ compensation matters. “Since joining this firm, Sheena has consistently …
Yan Falkinstein Named as Partner
The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman, a leading California defense firm, proudly announces the elevation of Yan Falkinstein to Partner. Yan, who has served as Managing Attorney of this firm’s Workers’ Compensation Practice since 2025, has over 13 years’ experience as a workers’ compensation defense attorney, including nearly 4 years in leadership roles. “More …
The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman Welcomes New Managing Attorney to Lead Workers’ Compensation Practice
The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman is pleased to announce that Yan Falkinstein, Esq. MBA has joined the firm as Managing Attorney of its Workers’ Compensation Practice. With nearly 13 years’ experience as a workers’ compensation defense attorney, including over three years as a Supervising Attorney at another highly regarded defense firm, Yan brings …
Announcement of Firm Name Change
We’re excited to share an important update: The Law Firm of Friedman + Bartoumian is now The Law Offices of Heywood G. Friedman. Many of you will recognize this as our firm’s original name from our founding until 2015. Under this name, we grew from a small practice into one of California’s premier law firms, …
Overriding UR: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
There are times in workers’ compensation matters where attorneys on both sides are bewildered when reviewing a utilization review (UR) decision denying requested medical treatment, especially when the denial substantially increases the value of the permanent disability entitlement to the injured worker. Twice we have seen this done over the past few months. The first …
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Lump Sum PDAs: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
Without a doubt, every examiner who handles indemnity claims has at one time or another been asked by a claimant for a lump sum PD advance. While some injured workers ask only for a few hundred dollars, others aren’t shy to ask for far more. The purpose of today’s blog is to offer a few …
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The Five-Day Rule: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
We are somewhat confident that most claims professionals are aware the law requires utilization review (UR) to issue a decision within five business days of receipt of a request for authorization (RFA). It’s called the five-day rule. However, the amount of litigation occurring over interpretation of this rule is absolutely mind boggling. We are not …
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Creating Needless Claims: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
There are times when an employer is uncertain if a claim should be filed when a worker claims injury, especially when compensability is in question. Employers are often advised by their administrator that when in doubt, err on the side of caution by submitting an Employer’s First Report of Industrial Injury form, knowing that the …
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Imputed Knowledge: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
Most workers’ compensation claims professionals are aware of the axiom, “what the employer knows, the claims administrator is presumed to know.” This phrase is interpreted to means that if an employer is aware of a fact pertaining to a workers’ compensation case, then its administrator is also presumed to be aware of it, under the …
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Claims Forfeiture: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
We recently faced an interesting situation arising from a carrier’s failure to timely issue a decision in a case where compensability was being investigated. The decision was issued well beyond the limit allowed under Labor Code 5401(b)(1), which provides that once 90-days from submission of a DWC-1 Claim Form has elapsed without a decision, the …
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The Self-Insurance Exam: A 60-Second Seminar in Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling
The California Office of Self-Insurance Plans (OSIP) is the state entity responsible for offering the Self-Insured Workers’ Compensation Claims Administrator examination. Candidates who successfully pass the exam receive a certificate demonstrating their competency to handle self-insured claims. By regulation, every self-insurance adjusting location is required to have at least one person on staff who successfully passed the …
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