PBA Workers’ Compensation Fall Section Meeting 2026 – Hershey

Nariman P. Dastur is an attorney with Carpenter, McCadden and Lane in Wexford, PA. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section having served as its Chair for the 2021-22 term. He has also served as a Proofer/Editor for their Workers’ Compensation Newsletter since 2002. In addition, he is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, serving on their Workers’ Compensation Section Counsel including as Chair for the 2009-2010 term. Mr. Dastur received his B.A. from Westminster College and his J.D. from Case Western University School of Law. His practice is devoted exclusively to the workers’ compensation litigation. He was among the first to be certified as a workers’ compensation specialist in Pennsylvania, having met the requirements and passing a comprehensive exam in 2013. In 2020, he was elected a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. Mr. Dastur is a frequent course planner and lecturer for PBI including its Fall Section Meeting, Tough Problems in Workers’ Compensation and Handling the Workers’ Compensation programs. Mr. Dastur has also served on the Board of Directors of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania since 2016.

Katherine E. Bavoso is a Partner at Chartwell Law in the Camp Hill office. She concentrates her practice exclusively in the defense of workers’ compensation claims for carrier’s, TPA’s, and self-insured employers. With over twenty years of experience, she has practiced before most of the Judge’s statewide, the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, and the Commonwealth Court. Ms. Bavoso is a 2002 graduate of the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University where she was a member of both the appellate and trial moot court boards. She was also on the environmental law review. While at Dickinson, she clerked for Judge Geoffrey Berry of the 9th Judicial District in Goshen, New York and clerked for an insurance defense firm. Prior to Dickinson, Ms. Bavoso graduated from the University of Florida summa cum laude. She was a sister with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Ms. Bavoso is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell. She was listed as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and was chosen as a Select Lawyer and a Local Legal Leader. Ms. Bavoso was named a Lawyer of Distinction in the practice of Workers’ Compensation and as one of Pennsylvania’s “Top 10” Workers’ Compensation Attorneys. Ms. Bavoso was Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Section statewide through the Pennsylvania Bar Association from May 2019 to May 2020. She also sat/sits on the Certification Committee, Membership Committee, Fall Section Meeting Planning Committee, and Stanley Siegel County Bar Award Committee. In 2020 she was chosen to sit on a multi-practice committee with the Pennsylvania Bar Association to discuss and implement policies during COVID. Ms. Bavoso has presented at numerous seminars including the Pennsylvania Bureau Conference, Fall Section Meeting, Tough Problems in Workers’ Compensation, and Best Practices in Workers’ Compensation. She is also a member of the Dauphin County Bar Association.

Marla A. Joseph, Esquire, is an AV-rated attorney and partner at Pond Lehocky. Before joining the firm, she owned and operated a highly successful boutique Pennsylvania workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability (SSD) practice for 20 years. Ms. Joseph has represented injured workers and SSD claimants for over 30 years and is proud to be a second-generation attorney, following in the footsteps of her father, Gilbert Abramson, who owned a neighborhood law office sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association in the early 1960s. Ms. Joseph earned her B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1991 (Psychology major; Business minor) and her J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1994, where she received an award for achievement in trial advocacy and served as a Teaching Assistant for then–Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham. Not only is Ms. Joseph certified as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but she also serves on the committee responsible for evaluating and determining candidates’ eligibility for certification. Marla is the distinguished recipient of both the Martha Hampton Award (2024) and the Irv Stander Award (2025), the highest honors bestowed upon workers’ compensation practitioners by the Philadelphia Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association, respectively. In 2025, Marla was one of only three workers’ compensation attorneys inducted into the inaugural class of the Legends of Justice Hall of Fame in recognition of her longstanding advocacy and commitment to protecting the rights of injured workers. She was also inducted as a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in 2022, an honor reserved for attorneys who have distinguished themselves through excellence, integrity, professionalism, and sustained contributions to the field of workers’ compensation law. Ms. Joseph currently serves as Co-Chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Committee. She is a former Chair of the PBA Workers’ Compensation Section and currently serves as its representative to the PBA House of Delegates. She has long served as a course planner for the Section’s Fall Section Meeting and served as 2021 Co-Chair of the Section’s Electronic Deposition Committee. Ms. Joseph is a frequent lecturer on workers’ compensation issues and received an American Bar Association award in connection with her program on civility in the law. Ms. Joseph has also been recognized by her peers through professional honors, including selection by The Best Lawyers in America as “Lawyer of the Year” (2025, 2023, and 2020), and designation as a Super Lawyers honoree in workers’ compensation since the program’s inaugural year, including recognition as one of Pennsylvania’s Top 50 Women Lawyers. She received the 2004 “Lawyers on the Fast Track” award from The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly. Ms. Joseph has held numerous leadership positions within the Philadelphia Bar Association, including Young Lawyers Division Chair (2002), elected member of the Board of Governors (2003–2006), Chair of the Women’s Rights Committee (2001), and service on the Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee (2003) and the Judicial Commission (2001). She has served on the Board of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania since 2018 and founded an annual silent auction that has raised nearly $100,000 in scholarships for students whose parents died or were catastrophically injured in Pennsylvania work accidents.

Mr. Greene is a partner at Weber Gallagher, where he serves as co-chair of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Group. In his practice, Mr. Greene counsels employers, insurance companies, and third-party administrators on how to best manage their Pennsylvania workers’ compensation claims. He works closely with his clients to provide appropriate risk management advice, whether that involves litigation or nonlitigation services. Mr. Greene is a frequent lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, where he taught the Tough Problems in Workers’ Compensation course for 15 years before being appointed to the faculty of PBI’s Practice and Procedure Manual. Mr. Greene has co-authored PBI’s Practice and Procedure Manual, known as the Bible of Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation, for the last decade. Mr. Greene’s recognitions include an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and being named to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers each year over the past decade along with being named to the top 100 lawyers in Philadelphia and in all of Pennsylvania in 2019. Mr. Greene was also recently included in the Philadelphia Best Journal 2027 list for Best Lawyers. Mr. Greene is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the National Restaurant and Retail Defense Association (NRRDA). He is also a fellow in the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. Mr. Greene is a 1988 cum laude graduate of Duke University and a 1991 graduate of the Villanova University School of Law. Mr. Greene can be reached at [email protected].

Since 2013, Ms. Holmes has been a member of the course planning committee, the team that plans and presents the biennial PBI program Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Practice & Procedure and writes the manual. She previously was a planner for the Handling the Workers Compensation Claim program and has participated in other PBI programs and the Bureau of Workers Compensation Conference. She is a partner in the law firm of Blaufeld Schiller & Holmes LLP in Pittsburgh, where she practices on behalf of injured workers in workers’ compensation claim and disability applicants in Social Security claims. She is a member of the American, Pennsylvania, and Allegheny County Bar Associations, and a former chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Council for the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association. Ms. Holmes was elected to the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers in 2011, and has participated in CWCL presentations at the annual meeting. She is admitted to practice before all courts of the Commonwealth and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits. Ms. Holmes is a graduate of Chatham University in Pittsburgh and received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In 2019, Ms. Holmes was awarded the Irvin Stander Memorial Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section. Ms. Holmes can be reached by phone at 412-391-0775, ext. 202, or 1-800-343-9384, and by email at [email protected].

Mr. Carlson is the managing partner of Martin Law in Philadelphia. He is also the Immediate Past President of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. He has been a litigator in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law since passing the bar in 1992. Mr. Carlson initially practiced at a leading defense firm in Philadelphia, then joined his present firm in 2000 to represent injured workers in Pennsylvania and protect their rights. He has been voted a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer since 2005 and a Top 100 Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Super Lawyer on multiple occasions. Since 2013, Mr. Carlson has also been recognized in Best Lawyers of America. He was among the first class of attorneys to become a certified specialist in Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Law. In addition to maintaining an active caseload, Mr. Carlson lectures extensively in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law. He has also published numerous articles on the subject. Mr. Carlson served as Co-Chair for the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section in 2008 and has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association since 2010. He received his J.D. in 1992 from Widener University School of Law, his MBA in 1992 from Widener University, and his B.S., magna cum laude, in 1989 from Villanova University.

Ms. Ellis assumed the position of Manager of the Integrated Disability department which manages occupational and non-occupational disability at United States Steel Corporation in November 2024. Prior to entering management, Ms. Ellis served for 18 years as in-house counsel for United States Steel Corporation handling all facets of workers’ compensation litigation for the company’s self-insured program in Western Pennsylvania and supervising workers’ compensation outside counsel in the company’s other jurisdictions. For over 21 years, she focused her legal practice exclusively on representing employers, insurance companies and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation matters. She brings a unique perspective to her work as prior to becoming an attorney, she had a combined ten years of experience in workers’ compensation in the claims adjuster’s chair for five years and also five years in the employer’s chair administering the workers’ compensation program for a non-profit agency before opting to go to law school in 1999. Ms. Ellis is a graduate of Chatham College in Pittsburgh and received her J.D. in 2003 from the Duquesne University School of Law, where she received a Barrister’s Award and the J. Alfred Wilner Award. Ms. Ellis is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and inactive member of the West Virginia Bar Association. She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Ms. Ellis is a past Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of Pennsylvania Bar Association and has chaired its Workers’ Compensation Legislation Committee since 2012. She is an appointed Zone 12 member of the PBA House of Delegates and also serves as an appointed member of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council since 2017.

Mr. Gross is the managing partner at Gross & Kenny, LLP in Philadelphia, where he focused on workers’ compensation litigation for 35 years. He is a certified specialist in workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A leader in his field, Mr. Gross is a past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section and serves as Treasurer of the Alexander Barbieri Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court since its founding in 2011. He previously served on the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Board of Governors (2008-2010) and has been a member of its Workers’ Compensation Section Executive Committee for 26 years, including time as co-chair. He is a past Chancellor of the Brandeis Law Society and a founding member of the Brandeis Law Foundation. In addition to his legal work, Mr. Gross is actively involved in fundraising efforts for both the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. In 2003, Mr. Gross received the prestigious Martha Hampton Award for his advocacy and compassion toward injured workers, as well as his professional and community service. He has been named among Philadelphia Magazine’s top attorneys in workers’ compensation litigation every year since 2004 and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Gross is a Board Member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, a former and current Chair, and current Board Member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice Workers’ Compensation Section, and serves on the board of Kids’ Chance of PA. He frequently lectures on workers’ compensation issues and has published numerous articles, including in The Legal Intelligencer. He holds a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law and a B.S. from Muhlenberg College. Outside the courtroom, he is an FAA-licensed pilot and serves on the board of the Camden Youth Aviation Program.

Ms. Zabroski is a partner in the Pittsburgh office of Chartwell Law. Her practice is dedicated to representing self-insured employers and insurance companies in workers’ compensation litigation in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Ms. Zabroski is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Allegheny County Bar Association and has served on the ACBA Workers’ Compensation Section counsel. She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania and Western District of North Carolina, and the State of North Carolina. Ms. Zabroski has been named to The Best Lawyers in America since 2010, in the specialty of workers’ compensation law. Ms. Zabroski was also selected to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2015 and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2010 and was elected to the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers in 2019. In 2019, Ms. Zabroski was appointed to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Certification Committee and is currently serving her third three-year term. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Slippery Rock University and her J.D., cum laude, from Duquesne University.

Attorney Christian M. Petrucci is the founder and owner of the Law Offices Of Christian Petrucci with offices in Philadelphia and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Serving clients throughout Pennsylvania since 1995, Mr. Petrucci devotes his practice to workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability law. Since 2003, Mr. Petrucci has served as a monthly columnist for The Legal Intelligencer, where he writes extensively on a variety of topics concerning workers’ compensation. He has also served as co-chair for the workers’ compensation section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, where he still acts as legislative liaison and is a past member of the Bar Association’s Board of Governors. Mr. Petrucci has been selected every year since 2008 as one of Pennsylvania’s Super Lawyers / Rising Stars, in the Super Lawyers insert of Philadelphia Magazine. He also has been consistently recognized by U.S. News and World Report in both the Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms editions. Other awards include receiving a Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Rating™ Review of Preeminent, which is the highest possible peer rating for legal knowledge and experience and ethical standing, and a perfect rating from the lawyer directory, Avvo. He is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Widener University Delaware Law School.

Judge Jean S. Wright is a distinguished graduate of Duquesne University School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctor degree and developed a strong foundation in the law. Following her admission to the bar, she began her legal career with the law firm of Dallas W. Hartman, P.C., where she gained valuable experience representing claimants in workers’ compensation matters. In 2007, Judge Wright was appointed as a Workers’ Compensation Judge in Erie. She continues to live and serve in Erie.

Mr. Kachline is the owner and operator of The Law Offices of Kristopher A. Kachline, LLC. Mr. Kachline has been practicing in workers’ compensation, toxic exposure, and employment law since 2010. Since 2012, Mr. Kachline has been lead counsel in the litigation of over 500 occupational cancer claims arising out of Act 46 of 2011, which amended the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act to include cancer in firefighters as a presumed work-related occupational disease. Mr. Kachline managed all of the City’s Act 46 litigation. Mr. Kachline was chosen to represent the City of Philadelphia in 26 long-haul COVID 19 claims filed by police officers. He was able to defeat a novel legal argument from Lodge 5 to protect and defend the City’s COVID policies up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In addition to his representation of the City of Philadelphia, Mr. Kachline has represented other municipal employers of all sizes across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This experience provides Mr. Kachline with exposure to a wide array of issues that face municipal employers. Those municipal employers include City of Norristown, City of Chester, City of Johnstown, City of Williamsport, Borough of West Chester, and more. Mr. Kachline also has significant experience handling appeals. He has been lead counsel in 33 cases at the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and dozens more at the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The issues at those appellate Courts included constitutional challenges to portions of the Workers’ Compensation Act, challenges to the methodology employed by expert witnesses, and challenges to the evidence necessary to overcome the notice requirement of the Act. In addition to his work in the courtroom, Mr. Kachline has consulted on several pieces of legislation and has testified during Pennsylvania and Ohio legislative sessions. Most recently, Mr. Kachline had a seat at the table in Harrisburg around which discussions were held regarding an ongoing attempt to modify the burden applied to police officers and firefighters when making a mental-mental claim for PTSD. That Bill passed and became Act 121.Mr. Kachline graduated from Muhlenberg College in 2005. He graduated cum laude from Widener University School of Law in 2010, with distinction in public health law. He is admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and Ohio Bar and is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to represent veterans before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

Judge Sabatino serves as a Workers’ Compensation Judge in Lehigh County. Prior to her appointment in 2012, she focused her practice primarily on workers’ compensation defense. While in private practice, she lectured to large insurance companies and employers regarding complex workers’ compensation issues. Since her appointment, she has lectured extensively to judges regarding the implementation and use of WCAIS. She has also presented on the use of interpreters in the courtroom. Judge Sabatino has served as chairperson for the annual Workers’ Compensation Judges’ Conference for over a decade. She served as President of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Judges’ Professional Association from 2018 to 2022 and is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee. She is a 2018 graduate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Leadership Development Institute. Judge Sabatino graduated from DeSales University with a B.A. in Theater and from Villanova University School of Law. In her spare time, she serves on the Board of Directors of Steel River Playhouse.

Jenna King is an associate with Martin Law and has exclusively practiced Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law since passing the bar in 2015. Prior to joining Martin Law, Ms. King worked at a regional defense firm representing employers and major insurance carriers in workers’ compensation litigation across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the Spring of 2024, Ms. King became a certified specialist in Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation by the PA Bar Association’s Section on Workers’ Compensation Law as authorized by the PA Supreme Court. Ms. King is an active leader in the Workers’ Compensation Sections of both the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. She is the 2026-2027 Immediate Past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Law Section, having served as the Section’s 2025-2026, and has served as a Council member since 2020. Ms. King was also the 2023 Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section, served as the Co-Chair of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee from 2019-2024, and has served as its PBA Liaison since 2020. She is a frequent presenter of Continuing Legal Education courses throughout Pennsylvania on various workers’ compensation topics. Ms. King earned her B.A., magna cum laude from Widener University in 2011. Before attending law school, she completed a year of service with the Americorps Program City Year, working with at risk youth at South Philadelphia High School. In 2015, Ms. King earned her law degree, magna cum laude, from Widener University School of Law, where she founded and served as the Inaugural President of the Youth Court League, served as the Vice President of the Moot Court Honor Society, and was an active member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society.

Ms. Saylor is the Director of the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation, where she oversees the administrative operations for carrying out the provisions of the Act. Ms. Saylor was previously a partner at Willig, Williams & Davidson, where she represented claimants for 18 years. Previously, Ms. Saylor represented insurance companies and employers.. She earned her B.A. from Bennington College and her J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.

Commissioner Frioni, a 2024 member of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers and the 2023 co-recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Irv Stander Award, is a 1988 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He was first appointed to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board by Governor Tom Ridge in 1996. He was reappointed by Governors Rendell, Corbett and Shapiro and has served as Chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board since June, 2011. Prior to his appointment to the W.C.A.B., Chairman Frioni was In-house Counsel to The Travelers Insurance Co. specializing in Pa. Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Disease litigation, Federal Black Lung litigation and Longshoremen’s cases. Mr. Frioni performed similar work as an associate for the law offices of Tillman & Thompson (now Sutter & Williams, LLC); and from 1989-1991 was an Attorney-Advisor to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges. Immediately following law school where Chairman Frioni participated in the National Administrative Law Moot Court Competition, he served as staff assistant to the late U.S. Senator H. John Heinz, III. Chairman Frioni serves on the Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee, the Workers’ Compensation Liaison Committee, and the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board. He has been a guest lecturer for many PBI programs on workers’ compensation and served on the Centennial Committee of the PA Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section at which time he Co-authored A History of The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board: 1972-2015.

Valerie H. Lieberman is an equity partner in the Delaware County office of Naulty, Scaricamazza & McDevitt, LLC. She has been practicing law with a focus on Workers’ Compensation for over 30 years. She represents insurance companies, self-insured employers, and uninsured employers from a variety of industries and strives to find solutions that will reduce a client’s workers’ compensation exposure. Ms. Lieberman has been selected for inclusion for the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers form 2012-2019, 2022-25. She was also included in the New Jersey’s top-rated lawyers in 2013 as well as a rated AV Preeminent in Martindale-Hubbell in 2022. Ms. Lieberman was inducted into the College of Workers’ Compensation in 2023 & Ms. Lieberman is a member of both the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association. She is past defense chair for the Philadelphia Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section. She is past chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section ( 2022-2023). She is co-chair of the PBA Workers’ Compensation Silent Auction Committee for Kids’ Chance and also serves as a board member for Kids Chance of PA. Ms. Lieberman has lectured to both the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Association as a CLE presenter. Ms. Lieberman received her B.A. from Arcadia University and her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. In 2021, Ms. Lieberman was elected and serves as Judge of Election in Abington Township, Montgomery County, PA.

Jonathan P. Spadea focuses his practice on representing clients in workers’ compensation and medical fee review matters throughout Pennsylvania. He frequently defends insurance carriers, self-insured entities, and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation claims across the state. Jon also advises insurers in medical fee review disputes, litigating billing issues between providers and payers. Known for his results-driven approach, Jon is committed to obtaining the best possible outcome for his clients—whether through prompt resolution to minimize costs or vigorous litigation when necessary. In addition to his legal practice, he regularly presents on developments in workers’ compensation and employment law matters. Before joining Chartwell, Jon served as a law clerk for the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office and worked with another prominent law firm in Harrisburg. During law school, he was a Certified Legal Intern in the Environmental Law Clinic and earned an Honors Certificate in Environmental Law upon graduation. Outside the office, Jon is a dedicated supporter of the Harrisburg Humane Society and an avid fan of Notre Dame Football.

Ronald J. Fonner is a partner at the firm, concentrating his practice on Workers’ Compensation and exclusively representing injured workers. Ron is certified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist, a distinction for attorneys who: devote at least 50% of their practice to Workers’ Compensation law; pass an examination; and re-certify every five years. He represents workers from a variety of industries. Their injuries range from one-time accidents, such as a crushed arm or back injury, to cumulative injuries like hearing loss and carpel tunnel.
Ron successfully argued that the worker’s wages should be calculated by pay at the time of injury, not at some other point during employment, establishing a higher average weekly wage (AWW) for his client in Lidey vs. WCAB, Tropical Amusements, Inc, 726 CD 2017 (Pa. Cmwlth.2017). In Helvetia Coal Co. v. WCAB (Learn), 913 A .2d 326 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006), Ron secured benefits for a client who suffered permanent hearing loss due to occupational noise. Within one year of admission to the Pennsylvania Bar, Ron prepared the brief for, argued and won the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Lumax Industries v. Aultman. The case involved corporate issues and “piercing the corporate veil.” The plaintiff had entered into a business agreement with a corporation of which Ron’s client was the sole shareholder. Although the agreement was with the corporation, the plaintiff attempted to hold our client personally liable for debts of the corporation. The lower courts held that the plaintiff could hold our client liable for the debts of corporation. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the decision, holding that our client was entitled to immunity from liability since the agreement was with the corporation, and the client was merely a shareholder of the corporation. Ron convinced the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts’ decisions involving shareholder liability of a corporation’s debts. Ron received his B.A., in economics, magna cum laude, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1989 and his J.D. from Duquesne University in 1994, where he was a contributor to the Duquesne Law Review. A member of the Westmoreland Bar Association (WBA), Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA), and Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), Ron has held numerous leadership positions. He is a Council Member and Vice Chair of the PBA Workers’ Compensation Section and a past Chair of the ACBA Workers’ Compensation Section. He serves as Province President (covering Western and Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia) for Phi Delta Phi, an international legal fraternity that promotes professional ethics in the field of law. He has been recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer since 2011.

Thomas H. Wing is the Managing Partner of McMenamin & Wing, LLC, where he focuses his practice exclusively on representing injured workers in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation matters. He is a graduate of West Chester University and Widener University Delaware Law School. Over more than a decade of focused workers’ compensation practice, Tom has recovered millions of dollars in wage loss and medical benefits for injured workers and has personally litigated a wide range of contested claims. His practice includes complex and high-stakes matters involving catastrophic injuries, disputed medical causation, statutory interpretation, and heavily defended claims requiring detailed litigation strategy. He recently litigated and resolved a catastrophic workers’ compensation claim with a total settlement value exceeding $7 million. Tom is frequently consulted by other Pennsylvania attorneys on challenging workers’ compensation issues and litigation strategy. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He has been recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® Rising Star in Workers’ Compensation each year since 2020.

Nirav K. Shah, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a board-certified neurosurgeon and Medical Director of Princeton Brain and Spine. He earned his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College before completing his neurosurgery residency at the University of Maryland Medical System, where he also served as Chief Resident and received specialized training in complex spine surgery, neurotrauma, and radiosurgery. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Shah has more than 20 years of experience treating brain and spinal disorders, with a particular focus on traumatic brain injury, spinal trauma, and complex spine surgery. Dr. Shah serves on the medical staffs of several regional hospitals and has lectured extensively on brain and spine injuries, workers’ compensation issues, concussion management, and advances in neurosurgical care. He has been named a Top Doctor by Philadelphia Magazine multiple times and is a frequent educator for attorneys, insurers, healthcare professionals, and rehabilitation specialists.

Edward R. Carpenter, Jr. is a 1979 graduate of Villanova University, cum laude, with a B.A. in History. Thereafter, he attended Delaware Law School of Widener University and received his Juris Doctorate in 1982. Ted is a frequent lecturer on a variety of topics related to workers’ compensation matters. He has also authored numerous articles in his field of concentration. Ted is a former Executive Board Member for the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Claims Association where he served as the Editor for the organization’s publication, “The Newsletter.” He has held various positions with the workers’ compensation section of Pennsylvania Defense Institute, including co-editor for the Pennsylvania Defense Institute’s Publication, PDI News, and co-chair of the section. Ted is member of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Coalition, formally the Pennsylvania Self-Insured Association. Ted also is a member of the Pennsylvania and Delaware County Bar Associations as well as a former member of the Insurance Society of Philadelphia where he has participated in the organization and presentation of programs dealing with workers’ compensation issues.

Mr. Wagner was a founding partner with the Law Firm of Wagner & Finn Attorneys at Law, PC from 2003 to 2024. He established his solo practice effective July 15, 2024. He is a 1977 graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a 1983 graduate of the Dickinson School of Law. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Human Resource Management at the Saint Francis University Graduate School of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management. For approximately 20 years, Mr. Wagner taught Employment Law, Employment Discrimination Law, and Workers’ Compensation. Mr. Wagner has served as a Hearing Committee Chairman for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He is former member of the House of Delegates of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Currently, he is a member of the Workers’ Compensation and Employments Law Sections of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Mr. Wagner concentrates his practice in Workers’ Compensation, Labor and Employment Law. Mr. Wagner has been selected every year from 2006 through 2026 as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.

Michael Dryden is proud to battle on the side of working people, striving to make sure they get the workers compensation benefits they are entitled to when they incur work-related injuries or fall ill to a work-related disease. His work in the seminal case of City of Philadelphia v. WCAB (Sladek), before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, led to a favorable decision that will benefit firefighters and their dependents in current and future cancer claims. Mike’s earlier work in another case helped to raise evidentiary standards employers must meet when claiming an employee’s known occupational risk for a disease is not the cause of that employee’s illness. Because of his reputation as an authority in the field of law, he was in 2017 appointed to serve on the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) Workers’ Compensation Panel. He is one of only two attorneys from Southeastern Pennsylvania to represent the Philadelphia Eagles players and one of six workers’ compensation panel lawyers from the state of Pennsylvania. Mike’s service to clients includes representing them in workers’ compensation and pension matters before the Philadelphia Civil Service Commission. He is actively engaged in the firm’s management of Heart & Lung Act cases throughout Pennsylvania, including occupational disease claims for cancer, heart disease and toxic exposures. Mike’s work has helped hundreds of workers, from firefighters to machinists to truck drivers, claim benefits for all types of work-related injuries and diseases. He has successfully challenged pension offsets that employers claim against workers’ compensation in an attempt to reduce injured workers’ benefits. He derives great satisfaction from securing workers’ compensation and other benefits to which hard-working individuals and their families are entitled under the law. For employees of certain state-run correctional and penal facilities and mental hospitals, those benefits include the protections of Pennsylvania Act 534. Mike counsels clients on the benefits available under Act 534, which provides an additional layer of workers’ compensation protections that exceed those afforded by the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. Mike also has secured compensation for workers whose illnesses or injuries were covered by the Pennsylvania Heart & Lung Act. The Act provides a powerful set of income protections to police officers, firefighters, corrections workers and certain other state and municipal employees who become sick or injured on the job. Some of these workers may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits as well as benefits under the Heart & Lung Act. Whenever a worker believes that he or she has developed cancer, lung disease or any other illness as a result of job duties, Mike has the knowledge and experience to help. Mike is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section, one of fewer than 50 such lawyers in Philadelphia, and he serves as the chair of the Workers’ Compensation Department for Willig, Williams & Davidson. He has been called on to testify before state and city legislative bodies on issues involving workers’ compensation, occupational disease and hearing loss. The son of a Teamster, Mike is a sought-after presenter by labor organizations throughout Pennsylvania regarding workers’ compensation, disability, pension laws and related issues. He trains union leadership on issues involving injured members and conducts educational seminars for union stewards, always putting his clients first, working hard to advance his own knowledge and share it with others.

Ms. Day has been Assistant Counsel within the Office of Chief Counsel at the Department of Labor and Industry since 2014. Prior to L&I, Ms. Day was a Prosecuting Attorney within the Office of Chief Counsel at the Pennsylvania Department of State. Currently, Ms. Day represents the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund in workers’ compensation matters. In addition to representing the UEGF, Ms. Day engages in civil collection efforts and facilitates criminal prosecutions against uninsured employers pursuant to Section 305 of the Workers Compensation Act. Ms. Day also represents the Department of L&I before the State Civil Service Commission in matters involving civil service employees. Ms. Day received a B.A. in Corporate Communications from Robert Morris University, as well as a J.D. and Certificate in Administrative and Constitutional Law from Widener University School of Law.

Saad Aslam is a partner with Krasno, Krasno & Onwudinjo. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and Pennsylvania Bar Association. Mr. Aslam is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Section on Workers’ Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He has close to twenty years of experience in litigating workers’ compensation cases on behalf of injured workers and has traveled to and practiced before nearly every judge and courtroom in that time. He earned his law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University and currently resides in Allentown, PA.

Mr. Shah is a member of the course planning committee, the team that plans and presents the biennial PBI program “Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Practice & Procedure” and writes the manual. He is a partner at Martin Law and a member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Pennsylvania Bar Association, and Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Shah is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers’ compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Section on Workers’ Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He is also a fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. In January 2015, Mr. Shah became an ex officio member of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. In 2017 he served as co-chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. In 2022, Mr. Shah was elected to the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Council, where he currently serves as the vice chair. He is the committee chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Fall Section Meeting—one of the largest continuing legal education courses in workers’ compensation—which is taught over a two-day period in Hershey and involves numerous judges and attorneys. Mr. Shah is a co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Workers’ Compensation Bench and Bar Practices, a continuing legal education course for judges and attorneys. He has spoken at various seminars on the subject of Pennsylvania workers’ compensation. Mr. Shah is on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. In 2026, Mr. Shah was the recipient of the Martha J. Hampton award, presented by the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, to the attorney or judge who best exemplifies those qualities which were important to Martha J. Hampton: compassion to others and dedication to the ideals of the Workers’ Compensation Law. Mr. Shah has been designated by the National Football League’s Players’ Association (NFLPA) to represent the players of the Philadelphia Eagles. In addition, he is associated with the National Hockey League’s Players’ Association (NHLPA), Major League Baseball’s Players’ Association (MLBPA), Major League Soccer Players’ (MLSPA), and Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) to handle workers’ compensation matters for professional athletes in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Martin Law, Mr. Shah worked at a boutique defense firm handling workers’ compensation litigation in Pennsylvania. He earned his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.

The Honorable Holly A. San Angelo was appointed Director of the Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication on December 20, 2024 by the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry, Nancy Walker. Director San Angelo became a Workers’ Compensation Judge in May 2012 and then Judge Manager of the Southeastern District in March 2018. Director San Angelo was the 2014 Judge co-chair for the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. During her tenure, she served as a member of the Bench Bar Association. The 2014 co-chairs were also the first to introduce philanthropy to the section, which has since evolved to make the section the most philanthropic amongst its peers. Director San Angelo has been a frequent panelist for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Philadelphia Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Conference and Judge’s Conference and serves on numerous planning committees and councils. Director San Angelo is a strong advocate of the mediation program, and she has performed hundreds of mediations statewide each year. As Director she has continued to perform this service for the stakeholders. Director San Angelo was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Wokers’ Compensation Lawyers (CWCL) in April 2026.The CWCL is a national organization which was established to honor those who have distinguished themselves in their practice in the field of workers’ compensation. Prior to becoming a Workers’ Compensation Judge, she was in-house counsel for Travelers Insurance Company at William J. Ferren & Associates for 17 years where she concentrated her practice on workers’ compensation. She graduated from the California Western School of Law where she was a published member of the Law Review. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Service from The Pennsylvania State University.