COME FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO OBSERVE WORKERS' COMPENSATION HEARING AT THE LAW SCHOOL
On Monday, October 21, Judge Evan Nordby of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges, will hear a Longshore Act workers' compensation case in the Law School's Moot Courtroom. Judge Nordby will call the hearing to order at 9:00 a.m.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act is a federal law that provides for the payment of compensation, medical care, and vocational rehabilitation services to employees disabled from on-the-job injuries that occur on the navigable waters of the United States, or in adjoining areas customarily used in the loading, unloading, repairing, or building of a vessel. These benefits are paid by a private insurance company on the employer's behalf, or by the employer if it is self-insured.
Longshore Act hearings are public, adversarial hearings tried to a judge alone, and are governed by relaxed rules of evidence. They typically feature both lay witness testimony, and, expert testimony by medical and vocational experts. Both sides are typically represented by experienced counsel. This is an opportunity to see experienced attorneys give opening arguments and conduct direct and cross examination.
From 12 pm - 1 pm, the hearing will recess for lunch, and Judge Nordby - a former adjunct professor at the Law School and an attorney with the USDOL Solicitor's Office - will host a sack lunch Q&A covering working as a federal agency litigator, labor and administrative law, the OALJ, the Mariners, and any related topics.
