Author: Jones Jones

Jones Jones LLC is pleased to announce that Partner Stacee Vaikness is joining the Jones Jones Construction Practice. The Practice spans both New York and New Jersey and is comprised of partners Rosanna Shamash, Dana Sabghir, and Katherine Caracappa.  The team is supported by Kristina Jones and Christine Diana in New Jersey.

A member of the Jones Jones team since 2011, Stacee heads the Jones Jones appeals department, as well as the controverted cases claims department. She has worked closely on fraud and construction cases, focusing her work on controverted cases and appeals. Stacee litigates in front of a law judge daily and has several major wins under her belt. Among Stacee’s wins is a schedule loss of use (SLU) case in which Stacee and her team saved the client nearly $1 million.

“As Jones Jones continues to grow, we are excited to have Stacee join the Construction Practice,” said Managing Partner Sarah Thomas. “Stacee is an aggressive litigator, using her experience in the appeals space and negotiation skills to secure positive outcomes on behalf of the client. These skills translate well to the construction space, which requires a persistent and proactive approach due to the layers of complexity involved in each case. We look forward to following Stacee’s success in this new space.”

In her current work for Jones Jones, Stacee regularly reviews controverted construction cases at their inception. This review and her previous work on construction cases gives Stacee extensive experience and an understanding of the landscape. As she joins the construction team in an official capacity, Stacee will focus her work on appeals, issues of coverage, negotiation and settlements.

“As a tenured member of the Jones Jones team, I have worked closely with construction cases for years. My previous work provided me with the experience, passion and desire necessary to join the construction team,” said Stacee. “I am looking forward to using my knowledge of the space, my experience in appeals and controverted claims to secure more wins for Jones Jones’ clients.”

For more information on Stacee and the rest of the Jones Jones Construction team, please visit https://jonesjonesllc.com/construction-practice/.

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Jones Jones LLC congratulates Supervising Partner Simeon Stamm and team on successfully closing more than 20 cases of claimants with multiple claims for one aviation client throughout 2024. Of the more than 20 claimants, at least 12 had more than five separate cases each. For example, one claimant had 31 claims, dating back to the mid 1990s and another had 26 claims. Simeon and his team closed all claims for every claimant in one settlement each.  

It is common in the aviation field for employees to have multiple claims over the course of their careers. Aviation work can be labor intensive, leading to a number of injury claims. At the same time, workers tend to stay in aviation jobs longer due to attractive benefits programs and positive treatment from employers. Combined, these factors can lead to a potential buildup of claims over the years. This is particularly true for this Jones Jones aviation client, which has low employee turnover and high employee satisfaction rates.  

To achieve settlements for the claimants with multiple claims, Simeon and his team reviewed each individual’s multiple claims independently and then evaluated the claimant and their claims as a whole. Once the team had a strong understanding of the claimant, they assigned an appropriate settlement value to address the full set of claims for that individual. Entering negotiations with a value in mind greatly helped the team in efficiently wrapping up each claimant’s individual case with one full and final settlement. Each settlement was inclusive of a general release and resignation with full approval from the board.  

In closing all cases for a claimant in one settlement, Simeon and his team were able to negate the period of waiting for approval in between each case. This not only effectuated a faster resolution process for the employer and employee, but it gave the employee and insurance carrier the confidence of knowing that all cases filed are closed– leaving no opportunity for surprise claims in the future.  

In closing numerous cases of claimants with multiple claims, Simeon and his team exemplified superior negotiation skills and settlement tactics. Further, in producing successful settlements with general release and resignation agreements, the team showcased their knowledge and thorough understanding of the needs of the aviation sector. Congratulations Simeon and the team. If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our appellate team at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com.

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Jones Jones LLC congratulates Associate Diane C Mandleur for securing a unanimous 2024 New York State Workers’ Compensation Board Panel Decision. This decision resulted in more than $73,000 in awards for the carrier in reimbursement from the Aggregate Trust Fund (ATF) following a 2022 classification of permanent disability in New York.

This award comes following a decision that clarified a carrier’s entitlement to a statutory entitled credit, a credit provided by law for increases in employment, training, investments in property and more, under Section 15(3)(w) of the workers’ compensation law for cases with date of injury after 4/10/2017. Section 15(3)(w) addresses temporary disability benefits and labor market attachment. In this case, Jones Jones appeared at a hearing for the carrier to address an unrelated issue and Diane used the opportunity to address the credit over vigorous exception from the claimant’s attorney. The Law Judge noted the carrier’s application but denied the application for the credit.

Diane filed a request to reopen the case to address the statutory entitled credit issue. She argued carriers have an unwaivable statutory entitlement to the credit, and it can be raised at any time. In the case of Section 15(3)(w), carriers are entitled to a credit if the period of temporary partial disability is paid to a claimant after the exhaustion of 130 weeks from the date of injury, which would reduce the claimant’s entitlement under their classification award. Here, the Board agreed the credit is statutory and that the Section sets forth no provision for waiver of that right. The Board awarded the carrier a credit of 97.4 weeks calculated at present day value with interest for $73,815.70.

Diane took a persistent and vigorous approach in fighting for the client’s right to a credit in this case. The team leveraged their extensive knowledge of Section 15(3)(w) and successfully secured this decision. Tenacity and an up-to-date knowledge of recent Board decisions are key to securing wins. Congratulations Diane and the rest of the Jones Jones team. If you are in need of assistance with a workers’ compensation case, please contact our appellate team at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com.

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