The coronavirus pandemic has affected every aspect of life across the globe. The pandemic’s impact on worker’s compensation claims remains to be seen. Chief Administrative Law Judge Bradley A. Crouser and Chairwoman Rita Hedrick-Helmick of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review recently featured in a teleconference with West Virginia workers’ compensation attorneys to discuss COVID-19’s effect on West Virginia workers’ compensation proceedings and the shifts being made as a result of the pandemic.

Dear Friends and Clients,

Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC has followed West Virginia Governor Jim Justice's directives in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19 and protect our employees, clients, communities and healthcare systems.  As part of those efforts, we have transitioned our attorneys and staff to work remotely.

West Virginia is one of the few states without an intermediate court of appeals that sits between civil and criminal trial courts and the State Supreme Court. In the Mountain State, the Supreme Court hears appeals from all sources, including workers’ compensation matters. Unlike civil and criminal matters, there is an intermediate court, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review, but West Virginia Senate Bill 275 (WV SB 275) proposed to create a new court of appeals, which would have had appellate jurisdiction over most matters, including Workers’ Compensation, and it came close to realization. Although the House of Delegates ultimately voted the bill down, the proposals in the bill can inform on future efforts along this vein.

In this last of a four-part series, Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC, explores the myriad and varied Qualified Opportunity Zones in West Virginia, focusing in on current development projects in North Central West Virginia.

West Virginia finds itself with loads of exciting prospects with the creation of Qualified Opportunity Zones and Qualified Opportunity Funds that were established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97). West Virginia's numerous US routes (US 50, 119, and 250), ease of road transportation (via I-79 and I-68), and Corridor D and Corridor H, combined with the state's assorted industries and focus on hospitality and tourism, make the Mountain State an ideal location for potential investors.

Unfortunately, thieves do not wear distinct uniforms. Instead, they look just like your office manager, your IT specialist and you. For an employer, catching a workplace thief is only the first half of the battle. If you are wondering how to handle employee theft after the thief is caught, read on.