Fort Wayne Injury and Disability Attorney Nathaniel Hubley

Under the Indiana Worker's Compensation Act, injured workers are normally entitled to three (3) different types of benefits, including: (1) medical treatment at no cost to the injured worker; (2) wage replacement benefits, commonly known as Temporary Total Disability ("TTD") benefits; and (3) compensation for any permanency of the work-related injury that is calculated by looking at the Permanent Partial Impairment ("PPI") rating assigned by the treating doctor. However, in some cases, when the injured worker's impairment is so severe that it might adverely affect his or her ability to engage in competitive employment, the injured worker may have a claim for Permanent Total Disability ("PTD") benefits. PTD claims arise when the injured worker is unable to perform reasonable forms of work activity, such as a sit down job. In determining whether there is a viable PTD claim, the following considerations are taken into account: the injured worker...

During a Social Security disability hearing, vocational experts routinely assist the Social Security Administrative Law Judge in determining whether there is work available in the national economy which a particular disability claimant can perform. The disability attorney will also use the vocational expert in an attempt to show that the disability claimant's severe restrictions prohibit his or her ability to engage in competitive employment. The federal district courts have noted that vocational experts are persons who have, through training and experience in vocational counseling or placement, an up-to-date knowledge of job requirements, occupational characteristics and working conditions, and a familiarity with the personal attributes and skills necessary to function in various jobs. In providing their testimony, vocational experts rely in part upon the Dictionary of Occupational Tables which is a reference published by the  U.S. Department of  Labor tha...

April, 18 2013 -- Social Security Administrative Law Judges and their union filed a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration on Thursday in federal Court in Chicago, alleging that the agency's productivity goals in fact constitute an illegal quota that pushes judges' workloads beyond the capacity of what they can realistically handle. The lawsuit alleges that the agency requires administrative law judges to decide between 500 and 700 cases per year, which averages out to over two decisions per workday. The judges claim that the goals are too high, and force judges to make decisions too quickly. The lawsuit essentially puts in question the integrity of the  Social Security disability  hearing process. The fact that the people in charge of the process are raising the issue makes it all the more serious. The lawsuit alleges that judges are supposed to keep meet their quotas, regardless of how complicated their cases. Many case files are 500 or more pages. Judges c...

In the 2011-2012 Session of the Indiana General Assembly, Public Law 69-2012 was passed allowing D felons to reduce their past mistakes and have them entered as Class A Misdemeanors.  ( See  new I.C. s 35-50-2-7). In order to reduce a Class D Felony conviction and have it entered as a Class A Misdemeanor: 1.  The offense cannot be of a sexual or violent nature (as defined in I.C. 11-8-8-5); 2.  The offense did not result in bodily injury to another person; 3.  The offense did not involve perjury or official misconduct. 4.  At least three (3) years must have passed since the sentence was completed (if any); 5.  At least three (3) years must have passed since any other obligations were satisfied; and 6.  The defendant has no pending criminal charges. If you meet these criteria and would like to have your Class D Felony conviction reduced to a Class A Misdemeanor in Indiana    Attorney Fort Wayne Indiana . ...

Medical malpractice accounts for a least 100,000 deaths each year and possibly many more, according to various reports. The number of tragic injuries due to malpractice is even greater. Indiana is not immune from these statistics.   The medical malpractice process in Indiana is complicated and the patient has an up hill battle with the medical malpractice claim. First, the patient needs to file a complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance stating the alleged medical malpractice. Once the complaint is filed, a panel of doctors is established which reviews the medical evidence and render an opinion regarding whether the defendant doctor deviated from the applicable standard of medical care. It is important to know that while not every bad outcome is caused by negligence, the unfortunate truth is that too often health care providers fail to adhere to the applicable standard of medical care when rendering medical services to their patients.   If you believe that y...

When filing for Social Security Disability benefits, it is important to know what you are dealing with and how the disability process works. Specifically, there are four stages in the disability process. The first stage involves filing an application for Social Security Disability benefits, completing the initial interview at the Field Office, undergoing the medical evaluation, and receiving a decision from Social Security regarding your application. If Social Security denies the application, then you will receive a letter indicating as such and informing you of your rights to appeal the denial decision. When you appeal the denial, the Field Office will review the medical evidence and evidence in the record and either confirm or reverse its decision. If Social Security confirms the decision, it will send a letter to that affect and inform you of your rights to appeal to the Hearing Office for a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge. The first two stages are conducted by ...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Booher v. Sheeram, LLC 937 N.E.2d 39 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010) Facts:  Before April of 2004, Hampton Inn had received complaints that the bathtubs in its guest rooms were slippery.  It thus contracted with Perma Safety to coat the bathtubs with a non-skid surface which complied with industry safety standards.  Booher was a guest at Hampton Inn subsequent to the coating of the bathtubs, but she still slipped and fell in a bathtub in her guest room and sustained injuries.  Booher filed suit against Hampton Inn, claiming that it was negligent in the maintenance of the bathtub.  Hampton then filed a motion for summary judgment and the trial court than granted Hampton Inn’s motion for summary judgment.    Issue:   Did the trial court err in granting summary judgment to Hampton Inn on the issue of duty to its business invitees? Holdi...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana The SSA, with the authority granted to it by the Social Security Act, provides cash and insurance benefits to individuals through two disability programs, both of which use the same disability determination process, but both of which also have different, yet complementary, goals. The first program is the Social Security DIB program, which is part of the comprehensive social security insurance program, and the second program is the Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") program, which is a means-based program designed specifically to guarantee a minimal level of income to only the poorest of the aged, blind, and disabled. Because SSI benefits are means-based and consist of only nine-percent of the benefits paid by the SSA, this article focuses on DIB.  To be eligible for DIB, the SSA requires that an applicant be unable to engage in "substantial gainful activity by reas...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney. In response to mounting concerns about the reliability of VE testimony, the SSA enacted S.S.R. 00-4p as an administrative check on the broad credibility granted to VEs. S.S.R. 00-4p is essentially an administrative or "regulatory Daubert" check on the broad credibility granted to vocational experts.  Under this Ruling, the ALJ is required to act as a gatekeeper by inquiring whether the VE's testimony adheres to data found in the DOT. Although the SSA only recently enacted S.S.R. 00-4p, the ruling has already been eroded by courts. The erosion continues to occur because courts are divided as to whether the failure to inquire into DOT inconsistencies entitles claimants to relief.  In other words, if the ALJ fails to fulfill their gatekeeping duty as mandated by S.S.R. 00-4p, the question arises as to whether tha...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney. Because the VE testifies at the disability hearing and that testimony is used by the ALJ to determine whether a claimant is disabled, a standard is needed to define the specific requirements that the VE's testimony and the VE's methodology must satisfy in order to maintain the integrity of the VE's testimony.  The most well-known example of a standard that places a check on the testimony of an expert is Rule 702, but before the adoption of Rule 702, American courts relied on the Frye standard. 1.      1. Pre-Daubert: Frye v. United States Before implementation of Rule 702, the Frye general acceptance standard was the established standard for determining the admissibility of expert testimony. This standard required testimony from experts in relatively novel scientific fields to be closely scrut...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney. At the fourth of the five-step sequential disability determination, the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") relies on VE testimony on a limited basis; at the fifth step, however, the SSA relies heavily on testimony from the VE who forms his or her opinion after reviewing the disability claimant's records and data in the DOT. This testimony is crucial because neither the ALJ nor the claimant possess the ability to analyze the exertion or skill required by particular employment positions, because the categories in the DOT are organized in an exceedingly technical fashion.  Thus, VE testimony serves as the foundational building block of the SSA disability determination process, because, without it, a complete, accurate, and reasonable decision would not be possible. 4. The Fifth of the Five-Step Sequential Disabil...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney. At the fourth of the five-step sequential disability determination, the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") relies on VE testimony on a limited basis; at the fifth step, however, the SSA relies heavily on testimony from the VE who forms his or her opinion after reviewing the disability claimant's records and data in the DOT. This testimony is crucial because neither the ALJ nor the claimant possess the ability to analyze the exertion or skill required by particular employment positions, because the categories in the DOT are organized in an exceedingly technical fashion.  Thus, VE testimony serves as the foundational building block of the SSA disability determination process, because, without it, a complete, accurate, and reasonable decision would not be possible. The Fourth of the Five-Step Sequential Disabil...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley practices law in Fort Wayne, Indiana. What type of deductions can an employer take out of an employee’s paycheck? Under Indiana law, there are three requirements that must be satisfied in order for a wage deduction to be valid: (1)    The agreement for the deduction must be in writing, signed by the employee, by its terms revocable at any time by the employee upon written notice, and agreed to in writing by the employer. (2)    A copy of the deduction agreement must be delivered to the employer within ten days of its execution. (3)    Only certain categories of deductions are allowed, including: a.       premiums on an insurance policy; b.      contributions to a charitable organization; c.       purchase price of bonds, securities or...