The responsibility of the Workers' Compensation Litigation Division is to defend decisions made by the Workers' Compensation Commission (now the Office of Insurance Commissioner as administrator of the Old Fund through its third party administrator, Sedgwick and Healthsmart Casualty Claims Solutions). Prior to January 1, 2006, the Division provided defense to workers' compensation claims, as directed by the client, in protests by claimants and/or employers at the Office of Judges, in appeals to the Board of Review, and in appeals to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Although the Division was limited in the types of claim issues that it defended at these levels of the workers' compensation administrative procedure, it was essentially "in-house" attorneys for the Workers' Compensation Commission, its predecessor and successor. Today, with the change in workers' compensation legislation in 2005 which brought about the privatization of the workers' compensation system in West Virginia, the Division now represents the Office of Insurance Commissioner in its capacity as administrator of the Old Fund in all claims' issues. The Old Fund is defined by statute as being any claimant's injury or disease with a date of injury or date of last exposure on or prior to June 30, 2005. The Division also defends uninsured employers' fund claims notwithstanding the date of injury/date of last exposure.

For more information on the Attorney General's Employee Programs and Workers Compensation Defense Division, please contact:

One Players Club Drive, 1st Floor
Charleston, WV 25311
Phone: 304-558-0708
Fax: 304-558-6135