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Meet the Experts April 2026

 Save the Date - The April 17, 2026 (noon Eastern) program will feature advice on preparing for, taking, and presenting expert deposition testimony! Meet the Experts How to take a logical, focused, and effective expert deposition time and again. Friday, April 17, 2026 This one-hour CLE program provides Florida workers' compensation practitioners with a structured, practical framework for preparing, conducting, and following up on medical witness depositions. The course addresses the full lifecycle of expert medical testimony — from pre-deposition preparation and records review through examination strategy and post-deposition considerations. Equal attention is given to substantive litigation strategy and the ethical obligations governing attorney conduct during depositions, including obligations to the tribunal, candor to the court, and professional conduct toward opposing counsel and witnesses. The program draws on real-world scenarios in Florida workers' compensation proce...
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Meet the Experts - March 2026

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Mar 20, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2777573448?omn=87480220916 Meeting ID: 277 757 3448
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Meet The Experts February 2026

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  Time: Feb 20, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2777573448?omn=89237927737 Meeting ID: 277 757 3448 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2777573448?omn=89237927737 Meeting ID: 277 757 3448 One tap mobile +13052241968,,2777573448# US +13126266799,,2777573448# US (Chicago) Approved for CLE Credit: 1.0 General Dawn Traverso received her Bachelor’s degree from Washington & Jefferson College in 1992 and her law degree from D.C. Law in 1995. She is a member of The Florida Bar, the U.S. District Court for the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. Dawn concentrates her practice in the defense of workers’ compensation, and labor and employment matters. Dawn is the Managing Partner of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale Office of Eraclides, Gelman, Hall, Indek, Goodman, Waters & Traverso. Dawn is a Past Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of The Florida ...
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Meet the Experts!

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Meet the Experts! More on that at the close (below), but first some exposition of the origins. This program is the brainchild of Stuart Suskin, and to understand it, you must know Stuart. (Meet Stuart in the December 2025 unCOMPlex podcast on YouTube - discussing this program ); See the brochure here . A long time ago, in another galaxy, I ran into Stuart Suskin. He was a pushy, insistent (made me come to Gainesville instead of appearing by telegraph), and energetic mediator in the early days of mandatory Florida Workers’ Compensation mediation. I represented some clients in Gainesville back in the day, and would travel on horseback to mediate those cases, until the iron horse came to Florida (but that is another story). Long before that, Stuart arrived in Florida in 1513 with Juan Ponce de Leon. Juan was purportedly looking for gold, but Stuart was merely searching for disputes that needed discussion or resolution. His near-pathological love of resolving disputes, no ma...
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Reappointment Nominations August 2025

The Statewide Judicial Nominating Commission for Judges of Compensation Claims met in Orlando on August 18, 2025, to consider the reappointment applications of seven judges. The following were nominated for reappointment: Honorable Eduardo Almeyda (MIA), Honorable Walter Havers (MIA), Honorable Jeffrey Jacobs (MIA), Honorable David Langham (PNS/TLH), Honorable Jacquelyn Newman (TLH); Honorable Neal Pitts (ORL); and Honorable Timothy Stanton (JAX).
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WCI 2025 and More

The Workers’ Compensation Institute is coming up in August. It is unfathomably close already. There will be an OJCC meet the Judges and Mediators on Sunday, August 17, 2025, from 5:00 to 6:00 in Anaheim, Atlanta, and Boston rooms in the Hall of Cities at the Marriott. The Statewide Nominating Commission is meeting Monday, August 18, 2025, in Grand Ballrooms 10, 11, and 12. OJCC Speakers include (only events open to the public are listed): Sunday, August 17, 2025, Grand Ballroom 8B – Professional                               Mediation Institute 09:00 Sagely Advice for Mediators, Attorneys, and Adjusters                      Hon. Erik Grindal                      Hon. Thomas Hedler              ...
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Scholars 2026!

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Following an inaugural year for our OJCC Scholars program, which we thought was non-replicable, we have selected the participants for OJCC Scholars 2026! We will kick off our nine-month program on August 19, 2025, at the Workers' Compensation Institute in Orlando. The depth of this community's future leadership bench is simply amazing, and it is a privilege to work with these exceptional community members as they evolve, grow, and lead! For more on the program, see The Scholar's First (August 2024) and  Scholars 2025 Concludes (April 2025). The 2026 Scholars are: Holley Akers, O'Rourke and Akers, Jacksonville; Florida Coastal School of Law, 2010 Brena Bergman, Goodman McGuffey, Orlando; University of Florida College of Law, 2020 Natalie Cavallaro, Morgan & Morgan, Tallahassee; Cooley Law School, 2015 Isidora Eickelmann, Work Injury Rights, Coral Springs; Florida International University, College of Law, 2015 Ingrid Hagerty, Moran, Kidd, Lyons, et. al., Miami Lakes...
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