DePaolo became a member of the California State Bar in 1984 and practiced workers' compensation law in California in private practice prior to starting WorkCompCentral with Miller & Folse, Adelson Testan Brundo & Popalardo, and as a sole practitioner.
DePaolo holds a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law (1984), a Masters in Business Administration from California Lutheran University (1997) and a Bachelor of Arts, English, from San Diego State University (1981).
Civic and professional organization involvement include: Los Angeles, Ventura County and Conejo Valley Bar Associations; Ventura, Conejo Valley, Oxnard
and Port Hueneme Chambers of Commerce; Boys and Girls Club of Port Hueneme (held Director
and Executive offices); USCF; NORBA; Hueneme Surf Sailors Assoc., honored for community service by the Ventura Co. Board of Supervisors.
DePaolo has been widely published on the topic of workers' compensation including The Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accidents Boards and Commissions, CWCE magazine, The Claims Examiner magazine, WorkCompCentral, and WorkCompSchool.
DePaolo has lectured and/or provided expert guidance on workers' compensation issues to Council on Education for Management, Texas Insurance Council, Los Angeles Times, Dow Jones News Service, Fox News, Employers Fraud Task Force, Fortune Magazine, California Association of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Professionals and more.
Cyndi Koppany
Director of Education & Business Practices
Cynthia Koppany directs the development of WorkCompSchool, WorkCompCentral's continuing and professional education facility which was started in 2005.
Prior to joining WorkCompCentral, Koppany held positions at Cambridge Integrated Services as Director of Education, Fremont Indemnity as its National Claims Training Manager, Superior National Insurance as Vice President of Claims, among others. At Cambridge, Koppany worked on creating a National Claims Certification Program that focused on claims outcomes rather than completion of tasks.
Civic and community participation include the Board of Directors for the Workers? Compensation Claims Association as well as the Our Mother of Good Counsel and Ronald McDonald House charities.
Koppany holds a B.A. from the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (Major: Retail Merchandising and Fashion Design), A.A. from the Elizabeth Seton College (Major: Art), and numerous professional certifications for Executive Leadership, Supervisory Skills, Change and Human Resource Management
Jim Sams is responsible for directing, building and final editing of the WorkCompCentral News Department.
Prior to joining WorkCompCentral, Sams worked at various daily print news media papers across the country. He was both Acting Business Editor and Senior Project Writer for the Desert Sun and was a County Government Reporter for the Sarasota Tribune and a Capitol Bureau Chief at the Stockton Record.
In 2003 the California Associated Press voted Sam's 5 part series on the background of the California workers' compensation crisis as both the "Best Business Story" and "Best Investigative Story." The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, in 1995, honored Sam's work on a criminal investigative piece with its "Best Feature" award. Sams has also received the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group "Chairman's Award."
Sams holds a B.A. from the University of South Florida - Tampa (Major: Mass Communications)
