NJ Division of Workers’ Compensation closed to the public and to non-essential court personnel until June 8, 2020

The Director and Chief Judge of the NJ DIvision of Workers' Compensation has announced that additional judges of compensation will actively join the staff during the statewide COVID-19 emergency.

Sweeping Changes to NJ Workers’ Compensation Proposed

The recently published report from Gov. Pat Murphy's transition team calls for sweeping reforms of the state's workers' compensation system. Over the past twelve months both the NJ State Bar Association as well as observers have requested that changes be made to improve efficiency and eliminate delay.

On the Integrity and Secrecy of Judges

Should Workers' Compensation Judges be subject to financial and insurance disclosure regulations? A strong case exists for the need for transparency. While California leads the nations, hopefully our jurisdictions will follow. The Today's post was shared by WSJ Law Blog and comes from blogs.wsj.com

California’s financial disclosure requirements for its judges are among the strongest in the nation. The state even posts online the reports about judges income and investments — a level of transparency that almost every other state refuses to meet. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Montana, Utah and Idaho don’t require their justices to file any disclosure reports at all. Does that mean the judiciaries of Montana, Utah and Idaho are less honest and more prone to corruption than California’s? It’s a question to think about in reading a detailed, new report by the Center for Public Integrity on judicial financial disclosure. The nonpartisan media watchdog group scrutinized the disclosure rules for judges in the highest state courts across the nation. States were rated on a scale of 0 to 100 and assigned letter grades based on their transparency. California got a 77 out of 100, the best in the nation. Maryland, Washington and Massachusetts and Illinois also ranked in the top five. Montana, Utah and Idaho tied for last with a score of zero. The group found dozens of examples of “questionable gifts, investments overlapping with caseloads” and instances in which judges or their spouses owned stock in companies involved in cases over which they presided. The report suggested that the center would have identified more conflicts were it not for the spotty or non-existent disclosure rules in many states, most of which received failing...

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Related articles

• Nine-month Center investigation shows commitment to work and need for your support (publicintegrity.org)
• State supreme court judges reveal scant financial information (publicintegrity.org)
• State fails transparency test (mtstandard.com)
• D.C. Courts Get an 'F' for Judges' Financial Disclosures (legaltimes.typepad.com)

Compensation Judges Are Becoming Linkedin

A new trend is underway as Judges reach out for ways to stay informed and exchange information in the new technology of the world. It has been reported that Judges from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to State trial level Judges are reaching out to stay connected. Derek Mosley, a municipal court judge in Wisconsin, is linked to over 419 connections on linked in.

Workers' Compensation Judges have joined the social networking crowd in large numbers. Over 445 "hits" show up on Linkedin.com for workers compensation judges. While some links are public others are private allowing for anonymity.

It has been reported that Judges have used Facebook searches to establish the veracity of excuses in case where the attorney calls in sick. The opposite may now be true, the attorney might be able to learn what the Judge has eaten for breakfast.

The logic for connecting through the social networking community is well placed. The access to information through connections and groups provides information, trends and analysis at low cost and relatively ease of use.