On Friday March 22, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a favorable decision for the defense in Kluttz-Ellison v. Noah’s Playloft Preschool, No. 173PA22 (N.C. 2024). Lindsay Wikle and Duane Jones from Hedrick Gardner represented Defendants. The Supreme Court provided a test to determine whether requested medical treatment is “directly related” to the original compensable injury, […]
The SMART Act requires CMS to annually review the costs associated with the collection of Medicare conditional payments and set forth a threshold amount applicable to settlements, judgements, awards, or other payments (TPOC amount) for which it will not seek recovery. The threshold amount for 2023 was $750.00. On February 14, 2024, CMS announced the […]
November 2, 2023. Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP received several top rankings in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® 2024 “Best Law Firms” report. The firm received Tier 1 regional rankings, the highest category awarded, in eight categories. The full firm report is as follows: Metropolitan Tier 1 Charlotte: Raleigh: Columbia (SC): Metropolitan Tier 2 Charlotte: […]
North Carolina’s Workers’ Comp Act, specifically N.C. Gen. Stat. 97-29(c), has a 500 week “cap” on entitlement to temporary total disability (TTD) benefits. The statute also provides an employee with the opportunity to apply for extended TTD benefits beyond 500 weeks, upon a showing that the employee has suffered from a “total loss of wage-earning […]
The Court of Appeals Issues Its First Opinion on Extended Benefits By Duane Jones The Court of Appeals has issued its first opinion on extended disability benefits, which came into being following the 2011 amendments to N.C.G.S. § 97-29(c). In Sturdivant v. N.C. Dept. of Public Safety, COA22-421 (April 18, 2023), the Court held that […]
November 3, 2022. Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP received several top rankings in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® 2023 “Best Law Firms” report. The firm received Tier 1 regional rankings, the highest category awarded, in eight categories. The full firm report is as follows: Metropolitan Tier 1 Charlotte: Raleigh: Columbia (SC): Metropolitan Tier 2 Charlotte: […]
North Carolina – December 29, 2017. Hedrick Gardner is pleased to announce the most recent milestone in Judge Linda Stephens distinguished career, acceptance into The College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. With her induction into the College, Linda joins a select group of workers’ compensation lawyers who have been nominated as a result of their outstanding contributions […]
