By Judge Pamela Johnson, Knoxville 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and 10. These are the winning numbers for the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, with one winning ticket sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, located in Los Angeles County, California. While winning lottery numbers are thrilling, having the correct numbers is important in other … Continue reading Do You Have the Winning Numbers?
Category: Hon. Pamela Johnson
Court Creates New Settlement Templates for Death Benefits
By Judge Pamela Johnson, Knoxville “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” – Pat Riley “On occasion we need to make a second effort – and a third effort, and a fourth effort, and as many degrees of effort as may be required to accomplish what we strive to achieve.” – … Continue reading Court Creates New Settlement Templates for Death Benefits
New Forms for Death Claims and Hearing Requests
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville Workplace accidents have consequences, which might range from a minor injury, to a catastrophic injury, or even death. In the first eight months of 2021, thirty-six employees have died in the workplace. When an employee’s death arises out of the employment, the claimants are entitled to varying death benefits … Continue reading New Forms for Death Claims and Hearing Requests
Consider these Settlement Tips from the Coworkers
By Judge Pamela Johnson, Knoxville; Judge Dale Tipps, Murfreesboro; and Judge Josh Baker, Nashville Can you teach old dogs new tricks? We believe you can and must when it comes to settling your case in the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. Sadly, Mimi Tipps has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. A landmark change took place approximately … Continue reading Consider these Settlement Tips from the Coworkers
Take Note of Recent Amendments to the Statute
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville Periodically, the legislature tweaks the statutes related to the Workers’ Compensation Law. This legislative session was no exception. Full-text of the amendments is here. Three noteworthy changes were made. The first two added to the calculation of deadlines. The last allowed a previous change to “sunset.” These changes are … Continue reading Take Note of Recent Amendments to the Statute
A Few Thoughts on Non-Dispositive Motions
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville A few years ago, due to a significant increase in motion practice in the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims, we established rules for dispositive and non-dispositive motions to give practitioners some parameters. The rule’s latest iteration is Tennessee Compilation Rules and Regulations 0800-02-21-.18 (August, 2019), and it’s available here—just … Continue reading A Few Thoughts on Non-Dispositive Motions
New and improved rules take effect today
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville For any chance of success, parties to a workers’ compensation claim in Tennessee must familiarize themselves with the statute as well as the many applicable rules and regulations. Some have said the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the Court have too many rules. We agreed. So, we worked to … Continue reading New and improved rules take effect today
More on the SD-2
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville Recap: In my last blog post discussing the Statistical Data Form, I focused on the importance of the form and explained that the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation uses the data collected to complete its Annual Report to the Legislature. The data is also supplied to national organizations that measure the … Continue reading More on the SD-2
UPDATE: The 411 on the new SD-2
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville Recap: In my last blog post discussing the Statistical Data Form, I discussed the importance of the form. As a reminder, the Bureau analyzes data collected from the statistical data form and reports the relevant data to the legislature annually. To collect this information, the employer must file a … Continue reading UPDATE: The 411 on the new SD-2
The 411 on the SD1
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville We live in a culture that likes to count and measure things. We budget our households, count our daily steps, and chart our children’s growth, while test scores measure their learning. I’m not immune. I often find myself mentally counting things, and I have developed my own set of … Continue reading The 411 on the SD1
Can I wait a year to refile after a dismissal without prejudice?
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson, Knoxville “We’ll see.” It is a phrase so many of us heard as children and, if you’re like me, it is a phrase you now use with your own children. Q: “Mom, can we stop for ice cream?” A: “We’ll see.” Q: “Mom, can I buy a toy?” A: “We’ll … Continue reading Can I wait a year to refile after a dismissal without prejudice?
Best Practices for Closing Future Medicals
By Judges Pamela B. Johnson, Lisa Lowe Knott and Dale Tipps Attorneys love certainty. They like to tell their clients what will happen, rather than what they think will happen or what should happen. Ambiguity drives them crazy. This perhaps explains why closed medical benefit settlements are the source of much weeping and gnashing of … Continue reading Best Practices for Closing Future Medicals
What’s New with the Practices and Procedures?
When the Court updated its Practices and Procedures in July 2016, you may have found yourself asking “what’s new?” or “what’s different?” Some changes were minimal and likely went unnoticed by most. For example, the phrase “pro se” was changed to “self-represented” for consistency. However, there were a few substantive changes as well. Below are the changes for which you … Continue reading What’s New with the Practices and Procedures?
A Few Words about Affidavits
By Judge Pamela B. Johnson The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Reform Act of 2013 established the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims, … Continue reading A Few Words about Affidavits
From the Bench 