The attorneys of Wallace Jordan Ratliff & Brandt’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group understand that employees are a company’s most valuable resource and that effectively managing those employees is the cornerstone of a successful business. Our Workers’ Compensation Practice Group works closely with employers of all sizes and types across a wide variety of industries, helping them navigate the vast array of legal issues that arise in the modern workplace. We advocate a three–pronged approach: careful preparation, consistent education and vigorous defense.
We believe that the best way to avoid legal issues in the workplace is to make sure they never arise. We therefore assist employers in developing sound, effective and legal workplace policies, procedures and practices. Simply having good rules, however, is not enough – educating employees is critical. We work closely with employers to create and implement training programs to ensure that employees are well–educated about workplace policies and procedures as well as the employer’s commitment to following the law. When litigation arises, Wallace Jordan stands ready to vigorously defend its clients’ interests, whether in court or before a state or federal agency or in any other forum.
Planning for, advising on, and defending workers’ compensation claims are an integral part of what we do every day and how we assist our clients, from America’s largest corporations to her smallest businesses, to be as successful as possible. We have decades of experience in workers’ compensation claims and the myriad related issues which arise in them, including drug and alcohol testing, leave (FMLA or otherwise), disability and accommodation, OSHA and MSHA investigations and litigation, third-party claims and subrogation, Medicare Set Asides (MSA), employer liability, outrage, and retaliatory discharge. We are also experienced in evaluating and defending federal workers’ compensation programs, including the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation, Jones Act (Merchant Marine), Federal Employers’ Liability Act and Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation (Black Lung).
We have a track record of successfully partnering with insurers, third-party administrators, group funds, brokers and agents, and self-insured clients, to solve their problems. We are also experienced in working with the Alabama Departments of Labor and Insurance to help our clients to qualify for self-insured operating authority. The attorneys of Wallace Jordan’s Regulatory Compliance and Government Relations also stand ready to lobby for legislation advantageous to our clients.
Wallace Jordan also been very involved in educating not only our clients but other attorneys and judges. Our attorneys have been involved in the Alabama State Bar’s and Birmingham Bar’s Workers’ Compensation Section, the Alabama Self-Insured Association (ASIA) and the Workers’ Compensation Committees of the Defense Research Institute and American Bar Association. We have spoken and been published by each of these organizations and many private groups as well.
