Author: Dee Akinbosade
Oregon Assessed Attorney Fees – The Vicious Circle
The Oregon’s Workers Compensation Board (“WCB”) recently issued an Order on Remand, awarding $68,300 for services litigating reasonableness of an initial attorney fee award. Karista D. Peabody v. SAIF, 77 Van Natta 67, 72 (2025). This ruling aligned with the remand from the Court of Appeals. Peabody v. SAIF Corp.,…
Stress of Navigating Oregon Workers’ Compensation: Possible Ground for Mental Health Condition?
Filing an Oregon Workers’ Compensation claim includes a range of administrative processes, from injury reports to claim closure, encompassing medical treatment, independent medical evaluations, entitlement issues, and several other factors critical to successfully processing a claim. Can this process alone be a valid basis for a compensable mental health condition,…
Oregon Workers Compensation: Is the deposition of a medical arbiter a thing?
An impartial medical examination is typically scheduled as part of reconsideration proceedings when there is a disagreement about the impairment findings used to close a claim. This examination is known as a medical arbiter examination. A physician or a panel of physicians is assigned by the Appellate Review Unit (“ARU”)…
Navigating the Pitfalls of Oregon Workers’ Compensation. The Ins and Outs of Injury under a Combined Condition.
We are all familiar with the idea of a “compensable injury” in Oregon workers’ compensation law. A compensable injury is any injury sustained while performing work-related duties that results in a disability or the requirement for medical attention. However, this broad concept of an injury may be somewhat limited when…
Extinguishing the Firefighter Presumption in Oregon Workers’ Compensation
The introduction of H.B. 2915 to the Oregon Legislature, signed into law in the same year, expanded workers’ compensation protection to Portland firefighters who had previously been exempted under Oregon law due to the city’s independent disability and retirement system. This inclusion further gave rise to the need to understand…
