28th Annual Workplace Torts & Workers' Comp 

December 3, 2021

(approved for 6.0 CLE Hours)

Topics & Speakers

8:55 a.m. | Welcoming Remarks - Program Chairs

• Stewart Poisson, Poisson Poisson & Bower, PLLC, Wilmington
• Vernon Sumwalt, The Sumwalt Group Workers' Compensation and Trial Lawyers, Charlotte

9 a.m. | Constitutional Challenges in Workers’ Compensation Cases in Other States

Moderator

• Bob Bollinger, Bollinger Law Firm, PC,  Charlotte 

Panelist

• Professor Michael C. Duff, St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis
• Thomas J. Murphy, Murphy Law Firm, Great Falls

10 a.m. | Workers’ Compensation Appellate Court Decisions Since November 2020 

• Honorable Jeff Carpenter, North Carolina Court of Appeals, Raleigh
• Honorable Robin Hudson, North Carolina Supreme Court, Raleigh
• Stewart Poisson, Poisson Poisson & Bower, PLLC, Wilmington
• Vernon Sumwalt, The Sumwalt Group Workers' Compensation and Trial Lawyers, Charlotte

10:45 a.m. | Break

11 a.m. | The Nature and Impact of Stigma Toward Injured Workers 

• Rebecca Gewurtz, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Rehabilitation Science McMaster University, Toronto
• Steve Mantis, Chair of the Research Action Committee of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups,  Ontario

11:25 a.m. | Tips on Handling Appeals to the Full Commission

• April Gladkin, Lead Counsel to the Full Commission, N.C. Industrial Commission 
• Honorable Wanda Blanche Taylor, Commissioner, N.C Industrial Commission

12:15 p.m. | Lunch 
 
1:15 p.m. | Insurance Product Primer 

• Kristine Prati, Wilson Ratledge, Raleigh

1:45 p.m. | Perspectives from a Former Defense Attorney

• Viral Mehta, Mehta & McConnell, Charlotte

2:15 p.m. | The NC Rate Bureau’s Responsibility for the NC Workers’ Compensation System 

• Moderator: Hank Patterson, Patterson Harkavy, Chapel Hill 
• Joanna Bilouris, COO, Insurance Operations, NC Rate Bureau, Raleigh
• Jarred Chappell, Director of Workers Compensation Operations, NC Rate Bureau, Raleigh

3 p.m. | Break

3:15 pm | Extended Benefits Panel

• Richard Harper, Harper Law Firm, PLLC, Sylva
• Kevin Bunn, Kevin Bunn, Attorney at Law, PC, Cary
• Stewart Poisson, Poisson Poisson & Bower, Wilmington
• Leslie Wickham, Wickham PLLC, Durham 

4:30 pm | Adjourn

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