Christian Petrucci

January 27, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The court's decision was a simple one. It was unwilling to legislate from the bench. The judges rightly felt constrained to merely interpret law and not impose a policy preference, thereby creating law out of whole cloth, even if "justice" screamed for the opposite result.

By Christian Petrucci

6 minute read

November 21, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

As is well known, the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act has always been interpreted to allow attorney fees charged against the employer/insurance carrier only if the employer failed to demonstrate the contest of the litigation was "unreasonable"—thus the term "unreasonable contest attorney fees."

By Christian Petrucci

6 minute read

October 28, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

As the court rightly noted, denying such costs "would impose an additional element not set forth in the act and undermine the remedial purpose of the act." The court thought this principle was important enough to report the case as precedential.

By Christian Petrucci

6 minute read

September 30, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

As if we needed any reminding, a few weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued a precedential opinion in the matter of Wolfe v. Martellas…

By Christian Petrucci

7 minute read

August 26, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Given the extensive questioning by both attorneys and the judge as to the claimant's competency, understanding of the agreement and the lack of any outside influence, it seems unlikely that a situation would ever arise where the appeal board would ever vacate a C&R decision.

By Christian Petrucci

8 minute read

August 10, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Skay was originally decided as nonprecedential opinion in May, most likely due to the mundanity of the dispute. It now offers a cautionary tale.

By Christian Petrucci

6 minute read

May 04, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Without question, the practice of workers' compensation has made it, intact, to the other end of the pandemic in one piece. Certainly, COVID-19 forced a significant paradigm shift in the way cases are handled. The question now becomes, what worked and what is worth preserving?

By Christian Petrucci

7 minute read

April 06, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

As is well known, commuting to and from work is not considered to be within the course and scope of one's employment.

By Christian Petrucci

8 minute read

March 01, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Historically, the law has generally supported a equitable prohibition against such a practice. Of course, history has never met Section 319 of the act!

By Christian Petrucci

7 minute read

January 28, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

While it is generally conceded that "double recovery" for the same damages is not good public policy, the fact that employers are allowed to subrogate against damages such as pain and suffering they did not have to pay in the first place has always been a source of contention.

By Christian Petrucci

8 minute read