The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA) announced that it has installed a new president and team of officers for the coming year. Incoming CAAA President Jim Butler of ButlerViadro, a Bay Area firm specializing in fighting for the rights of California’s injured workers, said his priorities would include “bringing out-of-control Utilization Review (UR) to heel, building strategic alliances with like-minded organizations to address workplace injuries, improving CAAA’s communication with our members and the outside world, and strengthening the rules of professional conduct as applicable to workers’ compensation advocates. CAAA is urging stronger standards for all parties to the workers’ compensation system, and strengthening penalties for unreasonable delay and denial of recommended medical treatment and approved disability compensation.”
Mr. Butler was born in Compton, California, the son of an attorney who represented plaintiffs in pharmaceutical malpractice and product liability cases. He lived in Central America for several years, and is fluent in Spanish.
Mr. Butler earned his law degree at the University of San Francisco. While in law school, he received awards for best brief and oral argument for the school’s Moot Court Competition. He has also received the American Jurisprudence Award in Professional Responsibility. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley. Butler is the author of the Injured Worker Survival Guide (1987 – 1995).
“CAAA has built a powerful digital platform over the past three years, and we will focus its power on improving our internal and external communications, and to distribute our education programs. As the premier workers’ compensation education provider, we want to make our expertise available to all interested parties to improve the treatment of injured workers,” said Butler. “We invite visitors to caaa.org, and we will be making some of our programs available there for free; For example, right now the public will find a free podcast on Independent Medical Review.”
CAAA’s leaders for 2013-2014 also include Larry Stern of Mallery and Stern as Legislative Chair, Bernardo De La Torre of the Law Office of Bernardo De La Torre, Bert Arnold of Boxer and Gerson as Treasurer and, Christel Schoenfelder of Rose, Klein and Marias as Secretary.