"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
Our firm’s commitment to diversity is illustrated by our support, leadership and involvement in groups that support and foster diversity, including the the PRO FIRM (Professional Females in Risk Management), WOW (Women of Workers’ Compensation), HIRMA (Hispanics in Risk Management Association), LatinoComp, the National Bar Association, the Corporate Council Women of Color, and California Women Lawyers.
We believe in service to the bar and the close community which is workers’ compensation defense. This also has the ancillary benefit of giving us influence with and access to decision-makers in the field. We are members of the VICA, DVICA, AWCP, PIWC, and the CLA (California Lawyers Association). Ms. Wintersteen currently serves as a Committee member of the CLA Executive Committee for the Workers’ Compensation Section in order to keep a pulse on the latest news and trends going on in the community around the state. We have attended annual conferences like PARMA, CAJPA, CCWC, CWCRC, and NWCDC in order to stay “in the know” on the latest legal practice tips and to touch base with clients that we may not be able to see that often.
We participate in professional and community activities that promote diversity, tolerance and equality of opportunity, and encourage our attorneys and employees to do the same.
Each attorney’s main skills are reviewed and identified, and we match them to the needs of each client. Working with an attorney should be a collaborative experience and having a good working relationship with your attorney is an invaluable part of that process.
Always Be Closing! Quick closure of files is usually our clients’ main objective. Our attorneys are trained to discuss settlement options with the client and with the applicant’s attorney at each stage of the legal process. We have been successful at settling early by utilizing status conferences, informal settlement conferences, depositions, and by aggressively pushing towards trial.
We are skilled at crafting strategies to support affirmative defenses such as the post-termination defense on a CT claim, AOE/COE disputes, good faith personnel action defense against psyche claims, cross-examining witnesses or presenting an effective defense at Trial.
Our attorneys are also well versed in the defense of California Labor Code 132a and Serious and Willful Misconduct issues. If they are filed alongside a case-in-chief, our attorneys can handle both aspects as long as the parties (employer and insurer) agree. This helps make sure all issues are resolved as efficiently and reasonably as possible.
We will diligently litigate cases in which fraud is suspected. We know exactly what to do with surveillance video when we get it; utilizing it in the most effective way possible, and ensuring that the money our clients spent is not wasted. We collaborate with SIU to prepare fraudulent cases for submission to the District Attorney. This has resulted in over a dozen criminal convictions for Insurance Fraud.
Quick and responsive communication that addresses questions or concerns is the cornerstone of this goal. It is one of the main features of the culture that WC Law Corp has created. To facilitate our lawyers meeting that objective, they are given the technology and capabilities they need in order to do so.