Law Office of Angelo Paul Sevarino

Law Firm Overview

Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialist

Nationally Certified Medicare Set-aside Consultant

As a practicing attorney I have worked with hundreds of attorneys and law firms and their clients for over 32 years providing counsel with integrated settlement solutions to their workers' compensation and liability settlements wherein Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid collateral benefits are at issue.

I am a board-certified workers' compensation specialist by the Connecticut Bar Association Standing Committee on Workers' Compensation Certification and am nationally credentialed by the Commission on Health Care Certification (CHCC) as a Medicare Set-Aside Consultant (MSCC)*.

I author two texts on workers' compensation, Social Security offsets and Medicare Set-asides and have written numerous articles and appeared as a guest lecturer before various national and state legal associations and industry groups. I am AV-rated under Martindale-Hubbell's Peer Review Rating System® and am recognized in Best Lawyer and Super Lawyer publications.

My Practice:

Medicare Set-aside Services. If your client is a Medicare beneficiary or has a reasonable expectation of being a Medicare beneficiary within 30 months of the settlement of a workers' compensation or personal injury claim, my office will prepare an analysis of those future injury or accident related medical services and prescription drug therapy costs which would otherwise be payable or reimbursable by Medicare so as to minimize the amount your client will be required to "set aside" from the gross settlement proceeds in order to comply with current regulatory requirements.

Medicare Conditional Payment Services. If your client is currently a Medicare beneficiary or has been a Medicare beneficiary in the past my office provides complete Medicare compliance including notice, investigation and reconciliation of any Medicare conditional payments which are payable from the settlement proceeds.

Social Security offset Services. If your client will receive either periodic or lump sum workers' compensation payments concurrently while receiving Social Security Disability benefits your client may be subject to having those important Social Security benefits reduced by what is known as "offset". My office will draft settlement language which mitigates or eliminates, if possible, the adverse impact Social Security offset provisions can have on your client's important monthly Social Security Disability benefits.

CMS Referral Service If your settlement meets certain review thresholds as developed by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) your settlement needs to be referred to CMS. My office provides complete referral services for your workers' compensation or personal injury settlement including initial submission, as well as, resolution of any CMS counter proposal.

Settlement Document Preparation. If your client settles a workers' compensation claim your settlement documents should contain Social Security disability and Medicare set-aside provisions so that these important collateral benefits are not jeopardized by the settlement of your claim. If your client is settling a liability claim my office can provide Medicare compliant general release language.

Expert testimony services and legal opinion letters. My office is often called on by other lawyers to prepare legal opinion letters or to provide expert testimony on matters involving workers' compensation claims, Medicare Set-asides or Social Security offsets. My office provides this service on a broad range of issues, including the valuation of a case, the legal issues involved and matters of causation or insurance liability.

ADR Mediation Services. My office will provide private ADR mediation/arbitration services for workers' compensation and liability settlements conducted at either Claimant/Plaintiff or Respondent/Defendant's office location.

* Connecticut does not certify lawyers as specialists in Medicare law.

Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Administrative Hearings & Adjudication
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Arbitration
• Mediation
• Private Judging
• Civil Rights
• Disability & Illness Discrimination
• Government Agencies & Programs
• Medicare & Medicaid
• Social Security -- Disability
• Social Security -- Retirement & Survivors Benefits
• Health & Health Care Law
• Disability
• Workers' Compensation Law
• State & Municipal Employees
• Workers' Compensation Appeals
• Workers' Compensation Fraud

Honors and Awards

• "AV" Rating, Martindale-Hubbell: Law Directory Highest Accolade
• 2005 Achievement Award - Connecticut Italian American Bar Association, March 23, 2005 - Present
• Pomeranz/O'Brien Memorial Award for Excellence and Achievement, Workers' Compensation Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, June 18, 2007 - Present
• New England Super Lawyers, 2008
• Connecticut Super Lawyers, 2009

Published Works

• Connecticut Workers' Compensation After Reforms - Second Edition, Supplement 2001, Atlantic Law Book Company, Second Edition, 2000
• Connecticut Workers' Compensation After Reforms, Supplements 1995, 1996, 1997, Atlantic Law Book Company, First Edition, 1994
• Connecticut Lawyer Desk Manual, Workers' Compensation, 1998
• Connecticut Workers' Compensation - Connecticut Basic Practice Manual, Connecticut Bar Association, 1993
• Workers' Compensation Form 36 - A Carrier's Catch 22, The Journal of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association, June, 1986
• Workers' Compensation Revised Regulations - Changes and Additions Every Attorney Should Know, The Connecticut Law Tribune, 20 CLT 1, 21, December 27, 1993
• Workers' Compensation, A Revamped System, The Connecticut Law Tribune, Supplement, April 25, 1994
• Speciality Certification for Connecticut Counsel, The Connecticut Law Tribune, 20 CLT 46, 23, November 21, 1994
• Workers' Compensation Costs: Independent Contractor or Employee, The Blanace Sheet, Lillis & Burnetts CPA's, Fall, 1996
• Workers' Compensation - The Invasion of Managed Care, The Connecticut Law Tribune Magazine, February 3, 1997
• Workers' Compensation Revised Regulations - Changes and Additions Every Attorney Should Know, The Connecticut Law Tribune, 20 CLT 1, 21, January 3, 1994

Classes and Seminars

• "Workers' Compensation in Connecticut", Connecticut Conference, Hartford, CT, September 17, 1986
• "Preparing for the Informal Hearing", Connecticut Bar Association, North Haven, CT, January 16, 1987
• "Proper Preparation and Presentation of the Case", Connecticut Bar Association, Meriden, CT, January 27, 1989
• "The Proper Evaluation of Claims Involving Dental Injury - TMJ", Connecticut Bar Association, Meriden, CT, January 26, 1990
• "Development, Preparation and Settlement of a Claim", Connecticut Bar Association, North Haven, CT, June 14, 1991
• "Initial Client Interview and File Set-Up", Connecticut Bar Association, Bridgeport/Hartford, CT, November 12, 1992
• "Investigation and Case Management, Principles of Medical Management", Council on Education in Management, Hartford, CT, April 6, 1992
• "Return to Work Under C.G.S. 31-313 and the Americans with Disabilities Act", Connecticut Bar Association, Hartford, CT, October 21, 1993
• "Initial Client Interview & File Setup", Connecticut Bar Association, Trumbull/East Hartford, CT, February 16, 1994
• "Connecticut Workers' Compensation and the American with Disabilities Act", Connecticut Bar Association, Rocky Hill, CT, November 29, 1994
• "Issues and Strategies at Formal Proceedings", Connecticut Bar Association, Cromwell, CT, December 2, 1994
• "Collateral Sources: ADA/Third Party Action/Social Security", Connecticut Bar Association, Stratford/East Hartford, CT, February 15, 1995
• "How to Start and Maintain a Successful Small Firm Practice", Connecticut Bar Association, Cromwell, CT, May 12, 1995
• "Repetitive Trauma Claims in Workers' Compensation", Connecticut Bar Association, Farmington, CT, January 19, 1996
• "New Admittee's Overview of Workers' Compensation", Connecticut Bar Association, Stratford/ Wethersfield, CT, February 14, 1996

Representative Clients

• Individuals and Law Firms throughout Connecticut

References

• John A. Mastropietro, Chairman, Connecticut Workers' Compensation Commission, Hartford, CT 06105

West Practice Categories

Administrative, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Rights, Government Agencies & Programs, Health Care, Social Security -- Disability, Workers' Compensation