Clients turn to RPNA for its expertise in litigation,
legislation and policy making— three critical areas which are often
imperative to employers' success in California's complex business
environment. We are the first law firm in the country to specialize
in and make new law when representing employers in workers’
compensation premium and dividend disputes with insurance carriers.
We meet regularly with various legislative leaders
and consult on legislative matters. We have helped pioneer and
sponsor legislation in Sacramento concerning important and
compelling policy issues for California employers as well as RPNA
clients specifically.
We have testified before legislative committees on
various bills and provide testimony before the Department of
Insurance and Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB)
on significant insurance matters. In 2010, we expanded our
government and regulatory affairs practice by opening a new office
in Sacramento.
Below are some of our activities and accomplishments in this area of
practice:
Nicholas Roxborough Leads RPNA's Government
and Regulatory Affairs Practice
Mr. Roxborough is often described as a legal and professional
“difference maker” in the California business community. He
has lead the firm's focus on litigation, legislation, and
policy issues, working primarily with Democratic leadership
and key lobbyists.
He testified before many
legislative committees on various bills. He served as the Treasurer for Senate Majority Leader
Dean Florez’ Campaign for Lieutenant Governor.
He has also enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship
with The California Department of Insurance and
continues to provide testimony before the Department of
Insurance and the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating
Bureau on significant insurance matters.
In 2003, he served as Chairman of John
Garamendi’s Workers’ Compensation Task Force for
California. After putting together a committee of more than 25
significant players, all of whom had “skin in the workers'
compensation game,” Mr. Roxborough and his committee produced
a white paper which identified the various problems plaguing
California businesses in workers' compensation and more
importantly, recommended material and significant solutions to
those problems. Many of those solutions eventually became part
of Assembly Bill 749 and Senate Bill 899. View
the
white paper here.
SCIF Transparency Bill
Mr. Roxborough 's role in providing valuable
insights and cases for
SB 1452 was cited in a
letter by
Senator Jackie Speier. The "SCIF transparency"
bill, which ensured the proper oversight of the
multi-billion-dollar state entity, was signed by Governor
Schwarzenegger. Most recently,
SB 886
Mr. Roxborough has been
involved in SB 886—a
bill designed to allow the use of electronic timecards in the
healthcare field.
Arbitration Clauses in Workers' Comp Side
Agreements
Mr. Roxborough has been working with
legislators to prevent national workers’ compensation insurers
from unilaterally forcing California businesses to other
states to resolve disputes without their consent.
He is the attorney behind a wave of litigation
and legislation leading up to SB 684, which began in
2009 when the court of appeals ruled that all side agreements
and arbitration agreement be filed with the DOI and WCIRB (Ceradyne
Inc. v. Argonaut Insurance Company). Below are various stories
and news clips regarding this issue.
California State Senate Committee Hears
Workers' Comp Bills on June 16th 2010 -
Workers' Comp Executive
Nick Roxborough spoke at the Senate Banking,
Finance and Insurance Committee hearing supporting SB 2490.
The bill passed the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance
Committee 7-2 and was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
View the testimony on AB 2490, authored by Dave Jones
(D-Sacramento). (Source: Workers' Comp
Executive, 6/16/2010.)
Business Insurance: California Workers Comp Dispute-Resolution
Bill Vetoed - Business Insurance
Workers Comp Central: Panel Moves Bill to Apply Calif. Law to
Carrier-Employer Disputes - Workers
Comp Central
Senate Bill 684 was approved by the state
Senate Judiciary Committee requiring that any disputes between
a California business and a workers’ compensation provider
that issues insurance coverage to a California worker who is
injured in California, must be resolved under California law.
Workers' Comp At What Cost?
Arbitration
Adds Millions to "Low-Price" Policies
- Los Angeles Business Journal
The issue of
WC carriers hiding arbitration and dispute resolution clauses
in "side agreements" has attracted the attention of state
lawmakers, who passed a law in September (SB 684) requiring
workers' compensation insurance companies to disclose their
arbitration policies when premiums are negotiated and not in
side agreements. The law will take effect July 1, 2012.
Governor's Sale of $1
Billion in State Fund Assets
Nick Roxborough criticized the governor's
proposal to sell State Fund in a Los Angeles Times
article titled "Poizner to Fight Workers' Comp Plan."
"For the governor to propose this means he
either truly does not understand what is State Fund or this is
nothing more than a ruse," he said.
Read the
Los Angeles Times article here.
California
Lottery Act
RPNA filed a petition
on behalf of concerned citizens’ organizations and
individuals, challenging the California Lottery Commission’s
authority under Proposition 37 and its unilateral decision to
join the multistate lottery game without obtaining legislative
approval. "Although the judge denied the petition, the
lawsuit was successful in bringing to the forefront the
important public debate that should have occurred before the
Lottery Commission decided to enter in the Mega Millions
agreement,” explains Roxborough.
Below are various news stories regarding the
lawsuit against the California Lottery Commission.
Did the California Lottery Commission
overstep its authority when it voted to include Californian
the multi-state game? This KTVU News story reports
about this issue
ABC's Eyewitness News story about a
lawsuit against the California Lottery Commission for joining
the multi-state Mega Millions game.
KCRA News story on the Mega Millions
Lottery game. Lawsuit claims that Proposition 37 only allows
in-state lotteries. Nick Roxborough, managing partner of the
law firm Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, talks about the
lawsuit.
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