Virginia Workers' Compensation Case Finder, Sixth Edition, is the most convenient source for decisions by Virginia judicial tribunals addressing and interpreting the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act. It is the first and only source to integrate workers’ compensation opinions by the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. For ready reference, it carefully summarizes and arranges the decisions under 104 topic headings that cover the most litigious issues in workers’ compensation.
Extensively revised for the Sixth Edition by a successful workers' compensation lawyer, selected by the previous author, Peter Sweeny, to continue and enhance the work, the book now includes summaries of more than 750 review opinions by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission from the beginning of 2018 to early in 2023.
The summaries include numerous decisions regarding:
the actual risk test; injuries by accident; occupational diseases; changes of condition; compensable consequences; payment of compensation; medical treatment and payment for the same; rehabilitation; marketing; attorney's fees; procedural issues; and many of the Commission's rules.
The book also discusses the approximately two dozen decisions by the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia in the field of workers' compensation since the publication of the fifth edition in 2020.
From its outset, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Case Finder has offered its readers a concise understanding of the many important cases it summarizes. It has served and continues to serve as a valuable reference tool for the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, workers' compensation attorneys throughout the Commonwealth, and insurance companies that do business in the Commonwealth. This tradition continues with this new fully updated and enhanced sixth edition.
Bradford M. Young has been practicing workers' compensation law since 2014. He has successfully represented claimants in dozens of review proceedings. Over the course of his career, he has written many hundreds of successful briefs on a wide variety of matters. His work has included several appellate successes before the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia. He is frequently invited to present at continuing legal education seminars in the workers' compensation field. Chosen by Peter Sweeney, author of the previous edition, to join forces on the sixth edition, Bradford Young enhanced the new edition with over 750 review opinions by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission and the approximately two dozen decisions reached by the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia in the field of workers’ compensation since 2020. Legal research, writing, and strategy have long been the hallmarks of Mr. Young's legal career. Early on he served as a law clerk for two federal district judges, and his work included drafting an opinion regarding the admission of expert testimony that was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bradford Young was born and raised in southwest Arkansas, earned an English degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, served as an armor officer in Germany with the U.S. Army, and then attended law school at Washington and Lee University. He has been a member of the Virginia State Bar since 1990.
Peter M. Sweeny, as a member of the Virginia State Bar and District of Columbia Bar, practiced workers’ compensation in Virginia for over 40 years. He is a past Chairman of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Workers’ Compensation subcommittee. He began his legal career working on the legal staff of the Chairman of the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission. After leaving government service, he joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Ashcraft & Gerel and became a partner in 1985. He then co-founded Thacher, Swiger, Sweeny & Day in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1986. In 1989 he opened his own firm and practiced as a solo practitioner in Leesburg, Virginia, with a statewide workers' compensation practice. He is a Master of the Bench in the Virginia Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court and a Fellow of The College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. He is now happily retired and living in Utah.
The definitive guide to Virginia Workers' Compensation improves even more with the release of the Sixth Edition of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Case Finder. With the addition of over 800 new review opinions and all of the appellate decisions since the last edition, this volume is an indispensable resource for anyone practicing in the area of Virginia workers' compensation. Without a doubt, Brad Young has established himself as the leading authority on Virginia Workers' Compensation law.
---David Falcon, Ackerman & Falcon, LLP
Having represented injured workers for over 30 years, I have relied on Peter Sweeney's Virginia Worker's Compensation Case Finder for its comprehensive review of Virginia Worker's Compensation Law. The torch to update the latest edition of the Case Finder has been passed to Brad Young. I cannot think of a better attorney to carry on the fine tradition of the Case Finder as the quintessential tool of the Worker's Compensation practitioner. Every attorney practicing Virginia Worker's Compensation law should have this book on their desk.
---Carl Lauer, Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas, LLP
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Case Finder by Bradford Young and Peter Sweeny is one of my go-to resources for assessing cases, preparing for hearings, researching, and writing appellate briefs. I have used it from day one of my practice that now spans over 30 years. There are two things that I recommend every attorney handling workers’ compensation cases in Virginia have on their desk and in their trial bag. The first is a copy of the Act. The second is a copy of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Case Finder.
---Christopher M. Kite, Lucas & Kite, PLC
To provide my employer and carrier clients with the highest quality legal representation, it is imperative that I have immediate access to case law that will be instructive on any topic I may be asked about. Bradford Young and Peter Sweeny have combined their wealth of experience in Virginia workers’ compensation to compose this thorough, well-organized resource. The Case Finder is equally instructive for defense and claimant attorneys and has in many ways become the de facto treatise universally recognized by the workers’ compensation bar. However, its use is not limited to lawyers; a compilation of this quality is an excellent investment for anyone in the Virginia workers’ compensation claims industry. I highly recommend this book.
—Amanda Tapscott Belliveau, McCandlish Holton, PC