Work Comp Commission Dismisses Order Requiring Attorney to File List of Clients

Wednesday, October 5, 2016 | 0

The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission vacated an order requiring an attorney to file a list of the claimants he represented while representing a physician.

Deputy Commissioner Christen Burkholder filed the order, Virginia Lawyers Weekly reports. He wanted to investigate Virginia Beach lawyer Philip Geib for a potential conflict of interest.

From 2014 to 2015, Geib had represented a Chesapeake firefighter who injured his shoulder. In 2015, he also began representing Wardell Orthopedics, which had treated the firefighter. He alleged that the company received only partial payment for the services it provided Darren Fetty, the firefighter.

Burkholder asked Geib's law firm why it represented both Fetty and the treating provider. Burkholder refused to go forward with the provider's hearing and later ordered the firm to disclose all the cases where it had represented claimants treated by Wardell.

The VWCC called the order "overbroad." In the full commission's Sept. 20 opinion vacating the order, Commissioner William Newman wrote that Geib's firm litigated different issues while representing Wardell and Fetty. He wrote that there was no conflict of interest, and the commission dismissed the order.