Why I ended up in workers’ compensation? - Judge David Langham

By Judge David Langham

I have been trying to answer the seemingly simple question of why I ended up in workers’ compensation. That is tougher than I would have expected. I had a business training-intensive high school curriculum, and earned a business degree, seemingly without ever hearing the words “workers’ compensation.” Notably, before I graduated from college I had been injured in a work accident, received medical care, and returned to work. Despite having been “in the system,” I have no recollection of ever knowing any details. Perhaps this was because mine was a minor experience?

I spent half of my law school career without any memory of hearing of workers’ compensation. Obviously, workers’ compensation was not a major component of education. Then, I had what can only be described as my second workers’ compensation accident. I was offered a clerkship with a firm that practiced insurance and workers’ compensation defense in Mississippi. I was fortunate to be studying in the state Capital, Jackson. Because the Commission was a short trip, I had opportunities to visit, observe, and learn. And, because the practice was administrative, I perceived the lawyers of that firm as allowing me many opportunities to engage substantively in various cases.

From my perspective workers’ compensation offered two very significant opportunities. First, there were ample opportunities to study and understand medicine. The majority of injuries were orthopedic in effect, and many times there were questions regarding pre-existing injuries, surgeries, and maladies. The medicine itself was fascinating in scientific terms. The application of medical opinions was fascinating in academic terms. But, the culmination of that analysis in the construction of a legal argument regarding causation of injury or compensability of condition was a significant intellectual challenge. I found myself studying medicine as often as law.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity upon graduation to relocate to Florida. For whatever reason, there seemed to always be a significant volume of available jobs in this field. I later learned that a great many attorneys enter practice in this area, learn process and medicine, and then branch out into other injury defense practices such as tort or medical malpractice. A fair few use the experience of defending workers’ compensation cases to learn enough foundationally to practice on the claimant’s side of the equation as well.

In my early career, I did all of that. My study of cases brought me into contact with some excellent physicians and fantastic attorneys. I found the work challenging and rewarding. The timing was particularly a draw as workers’ compensation cases could move to trial far more rapidly than a tort case. Though many tort cases proceeded to trial back then, the decreasing trend had begun in earnest. Many of my young-lawyer contemporaries involved in the civil practice found themselves rarely in court, and almost never in a trial. In workers’ compensation, I was in motion hearings on a weekly basis. The practice brought challenges, rewards, and motivation.

Accidents happen. I have heard so many stories over the years of my brethren having opportunities through happenstance. About two years into the practice, an attorney left the firm at which I practiced. He left behind a handful of claimant’s cases which he had received through referrals. I realized later that for the most part, those had come to this defense firm largely because they were complex, contentious, and difficult (substantively and in personality). I realized that these people were in need of representation, despite the shortcomings of their cases. 

Those experiences brought more opportunities to expand my perspective and development. I tried cases that seemed destined for difficulties, and periodically prevailed. On a long shot, I tried a claim for persistent inflammation and infection following ant bites. There were issues of pre-existing conditions and co-morbidities. There were causation, compensability, and permanency questions. There were opportunities to experience a herculean responsibility that comes when representing the “little guy” against all odds.

I found myself gaining experience such that other departments in my firm allowed me to gain experience in the medical malpractice and tort defense practice. They were often as complex as workers’ compensation cases, but they lacked the frenetic pace. Those cases seemed often to be glacial in their progress by comparison. Months sometimes passed without development or time demand. That pace, I suspect always drew me back to workers’ compensation. 

There are a great many good people in workers’ compensation. There are adjusters, risk managers, employee relations professionals, attorneys, and injured workers. The practice exposes one to the best in medicine, often within a geographic community, but increasingly in a regional or national manner. There are exceptional and motivated attorneys on both sides of disputes. Across the board, there is an incredible assortment of outstanding people who both educate and challenge us intellectually. And, it is a practice in which the most inexperienced can gain traction and grow. Despite that, it is simultaneously an environment in which the most experienced and prepared can nonetheless encounter the novel and challenging. 

I was drawn to this practice by its challenges and opportunities. Over the course of now over 30 years, it has never disappointed. I have been incredibly blessed over that period to engage in this community on a national level with some of the best people I have ever known. I have studied foundational motivations of social insurance, historic development of law and medicine, and persistently the human condition. The micro chasm that is workers’ compensation offers seemingly boundless opportunities for an intellectual challenge, human interaction, and professional accomplishment. 

As I reflect on this “why did you become involved in workers’ compensation” question, is search for the ultimate answer. There are so many factors mentioned herein that are draws, are factors. In the end, the common denominator for me though is the people. This practice and community have drawn me over the years through the fantastic people. Sure, there have been encounters with scoundrels and miscreants over the years, but those have been few and far between. Overall, the community is strong because of its professionals, their ideals, and their collegiality. 

I am thankful for them and the opportunities that this practice has afforded. As I look back as if I am some wizened old-timer of workers’ compensation, I note how many still practice daily here who are more senior still. Their persistence and longevity are proof positive that this community offers opportunity for long and fruitful careers. I am glad to have had the many advantages it has offered, and the opportunities there to have met and worked with so many of you.