IAIABC 2026 Judicial Program
Join Us Virtually
About
The International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) is proudly hosting the return of its virtual Judicial Program on Wednesday, June 3rd, and Thursday, June 4th, 2026.
Register to hear a variety of presentations by experienced, knowledgeable speakers and engage in discussion with other attendees and instructors on these topics:
- Preparing for the unexpected
- AI in the courtroom
- Discovery problems
- Appeals and best practices for hearing judges
- Legal writing
- Unusual Cases
- Understanding Implicit Associations (Bias)
Who Should Attend
This professional development opportunity may be of particular interest to those individuals involved directly in the judicial dispute resolution process in their jurisdiction. Attendees from previous programs are also encouraged to attend, as the content is new this year.
Continuing Legal Education
The live, virtual program will be eligible for continuing legal education credits, pending its approval. Please indicate which state you are seeking CLE and your bar number during the registration process, and the IAIABC will apply for pre-approval where able. If you would like to self-seek credits, the IAIABC is happy to provide relevant materials upon request.
Where Will This Be Hosted?
This event will be hosted virtually through Zoom.
Recordings and Materials
All session recordings and materials will be available to all registered attendees after the event in educate@iaiabc.
Thank You
Thank you to Ametros for sponsoring this year's Judicial Program. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Also a special thank you to Lori D’Angelo, Ombudsman at the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, and Chair of the IAIABC Dispute Resolution Committee, for her contributions and dedication to planning this program.
Agenda
Thank you to Ametros for sponsoring this year's IAIABC Judicial Program.
All times in Central Daylight Time.
Wednesday, June 3rd
As the judge, parties may look to you on how to respond in the case of a medical emergency, mental health crisis, security threat, or other critical moments. It is important to be prepared when the unexpected happens. Panelists will discuss ways to recognize critical moments, respond professionally, and keep everyone safe.
Panelists: Knowrasa Patrick, Marc Grodsky, Amy Young, and Suzette Carlisle-Flowers
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping legal practice, and courts are already feeling the impact. Join a distinguished panel as they provide a clear, practical look at how AI is reshaping litigation. Through real examples and recent case developments, the panel will examine how to spot AI‑generated pleadings, how courts are responding when attorneys misuse these tools, obstacles judges face when self-represented litigants rely on AI, and what emerging risks judges should be prepared to navigate. This session will serve as a timely and valuable opportunity to stay ahead of challenges rapidly transforming courtroom practice.
Speakers: Dave Langham and Les Shute
An interactive and introspective discussion of discovery problems and pitfalls for attorneys and judges through video-recorded scenarios. Areas of emphasis include ruling on discovery motions, balancing the right to discovery with the need for a hearing, admissibility of evidence, and professionalism and civility.
Panelists: Molly Lawyer, Shannon Bishop, Wes Marshall
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM Appeals and Best Practices for Hearing Judges: A View from the
Appellate Judges
This session will provide trial judges a practical look at how their decisions are reviewed on appeal. Appellate judges will share what they commonly see in the record, what strengthens a decision, the importance of clarity by the words used, and what can create challenges on review. The session will focus on clear reasoning, well‑supported findings, and developing a record that speaks for itself. Participants will walk away with straightforward guidance to help ensure their rulings hold up on appeal and support a fair, consistent decision‑making process.
Speakers: Robert Rapaport and Frank McKay
Thursday, June 4th
After this session with Brian Watkins, Chief Legal Officer for the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, attendees will be able to apply practical tips for writing plain‑language legal decisions and use the syllogism framework to craft clear, concise legal analyses in a high‑volume environment.
Speaker: Brian Watkins
Step into the wonderfully strange side of workers’ compensation as Virginia Commissioner Wesley Marshall presents his collection of unusual, surprising, and head‑scratching cases from across the country. From bizarre fact patterns to pivotal decisions with big implications, attendees will have the chance to weigh in, spot key issues, and consider how different courts reached their conclusions, for better or for worse. Come ready to think critically, laugh a little, and explore the cases that remind us just how weird (and fascinating) the world of workers’ compensation can be.
Speaker: Wes Marshall
Implicit associations mark us as humans and live in each of us. This session takes a deeper look at these unconscious patterns by exploring four essential questions: What are implicit associations? Why do we construct them? How can we identify them in ourselves? And finally, what can we do about them?
Speaker: Bob Himmel and Ed Wise
View the Printable Agenda
Speakers
Shannon Bruno Bishop
District Judge, Louisiana Office of Workers' Compensation
As District Judge, Judge Bishop conducts judicial hearings and trials by presiding over workers’ compensation claims and rendering final judgments that are appealable to the state appellate courts. Judge Bishop is a native of New Orleans who graduated from Tulane University with a B.A. in Sociology and The University of Mississippi School of Law with a J.D. She is admitted in all state and federal courts in Mississippi and Louisiana. She began her legal career representing plaintiffs in personal injury, medical malpractice, employment discrimination, and workers’ compensation cases in Mississippi. She later returned to Louisiana where she worked as an insurance defense attorney prior to joining the Office of Workers’ Compensation as a staff attorney and mediator. After serving as a mediator for nine years, she was appointed District Judge. During this time, she also served as Chief Judge for two years.
Suzette Carlisle-Flowers
Administrative Law Judge, Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation
Judge Suzette Carlisle Flowers, Ph.D., has served the citizens of Missouri for 42 years, in child support, as a prosecutor, and later as an adjudicator for the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation. She is a certified mediator and earned a doctorate degree in Judicial Studies in 2022. As a certified cycling instructor, she teaches at the YMCA in various locations in Missouri and Illinois.
Marc Grodsky
Supervising Law Judge, New York State Workers' Compensation Board
Marc Grodsky is the Supervising Law Judge of the Conciliation Bureau and the Senior Law Judge of the Queens District at the NYS Workers' Compensation Board (Board). Marc works to ensure that the Workers' Compensation Law and the Board's policies and procedures are uniformly and correctly applied throughout the state by the Board's judges, and that stakeholders are treated in a fair and unbiased manner in the hearing process.
Judge Grodsky has been with the Board for more than 13 years, with experience as Judge in the Manhattan district and then as the Senior Judge in the Brooklyn, White Plains, and Queens districts. He previously worked in private practice for over 15 years representing claimants as well as defending insurance carriers and self- insured employers.
Robert (Bob) Himmel
Deputy Commissioner, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Appointed September 25, 2013, the Honorable Robert M. Himmel serves as a Deputy Commissioner and mediator for the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. Before that appointment, Deputy Commissioner Himmel worked in private practice, with an appellate advocacy focus. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.
David Langham
Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims, Florida
David W. Langham has been the Florida Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims since 2006. His experience includes workers compensation, employment litigation, and medical malpractice. He has delivered thousands of professional presentation, published over 40 articles in professional publications and thousands of blog posts regarding the law, technology, and professionalism. He is the author and editor of five books: Florida Workers’ Compensation: Its History, Evolution, and Function (2023), The Mock Trial Performance (2023), Floridiana and the Workers’ Compensation Adjudicators (2024), Litigation Strategery (2025), and Unconscious Predisposition in Disputes (2025). David is a student, a teacher, a critic, a coach, and a leader. He lives in Pensacola, Florida with his wife Pamela Langham, Esq.
Molly Lawyer
Administrative Law Judge, Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission
Mrs. Lawyer received her Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2005. She then attended the University of Tulsa Law School and received her Juris Doctorate in 2008. She practiced as a workers’ compensation defense attorney representing insurance companies and self-insured employers in Oklahoma from 2008 until 2017. She served as an executive board member and Chairperson for 2012-2013 of the Oklahoma Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section. She was also the 2010-2011 Chairperson of the Tulsa County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division as well as a previous executive board member for The Tulsa Women Lawyers Association. She was appointed an Administrative Law Judge for the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission in September of 2017 and currently presides in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Wesley Marshall
Chairman, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Wesley G. Marshall is Chairman of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. He was first appointed as a Commissioner by the Virginia General Assembly in 2012 after a private law practice for 23 years, primarily representing plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, employment and other civil litigation. He graduated from the University of Virginia with his B.A. with distinction in 1985 and his J.D. in 1988.
Wes has served in various roles with the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators, National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary, the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation and Kids Chance of Virginia. He was elected to the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers, the NAWCJ Adjudicators’ Hall of Fame, and faculty on the Virginia State Bar Mandatory Professionalism Course for new lawyers. Wes promotes civility and professionalism in the bench and bar and seeks to instill positive values to promote value-driven delivery of services within Virginia’s workers’ compensation system.
Knowrasa Patrick
Industrial Appeals Judge, Washington Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals
Knowrasa Patrick is an industrial appeals judge at the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals in Washington State. Knowrasa initially joined the BIIA in 2010, and took a 4 year break to serve as the Self-Insurance Program Manager at the Department of Labor and Industries. Knowrasa has worked in workers compensation since shortly after graduating from Seattle University School of Law in 2000. She initially represented injured workers in social security and workers’ compensation matters. She took a 9 month break and worked for the National Labor Relations Board. When she returned to workers’ compensation, she represented injured workers and small businesses; and returned to graduate school where she earned an MBA from Babson College, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. Knowrasa has enjoyed over 25 years of contributing to the workers’ compensation system and purpose of keeping workers safe. She serves on the co-vice chair of IAIABC committees and is a College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers fellow.
Robert Rapaport
Commissioner, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Commissioner Robert. A Rapaport was initially appointed by the 2017 Virginia General Assembly, began his position with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission on February 16, 2017 and was subsequently re-appointed by the 2020 and 2026 Virginia General Assembly. He and the other two Commissioners work together in overseeing the administration of the Commission’s processing of claims filed for Virginia workers’ compensation and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund, hearing appeals from decisions of Deputy Commissioners, and formulating Commission policy.
From 1979 to 1981, Mr. Rapaport was employed as in-house general counsel with General Motors and a professor of legal writing at the Detroit College of Law. Mr. Rapaport moved to the private practice of law in 1981 where he focused on civil litigation and workers’ compensation, representing clients throughout Virginia in all State and Federal courts until his 2017 appointment to the Commission. He has extensive experience in workers’ compensation and litigation, including mold and toxic torts and asbestos.
Mr. Rapaport has authored numerous articles on workers’ compensation issues and frequently presented seminars for clients and within professional organizations on a variety of topics and updates on recent developments in the law as well as lecturing extensively on the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act and the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Mr. Rapaport received his B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1976 (magna cum laude) and his J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in 1979.
He has been honored by the Virginia Super Lawyers, Hampton Roads Top Attorneys, and Legal Elite. Mr. Rapaport is a member of the Virginia and Michigan State Bars and is admitted to the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, United States Supreme Court, and United States Bankruptcy Court. He is Past President of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court.
Les Shute
Founder and President, Kairos Kinetics
Les Shute is the Founder and President of Kairos Kinetics, an AI consulting firm focused on healthcare and insurance transformation. His 33-year career in workers' compensation began in 1992 as a claims adjuster — the same role now being reshaped by the technology he helps organizations adopt. Over three decades, Les progressed through claims operations, medical management, and senior leadership, including enterprise-level roles at Gallagher Bassett and serving as CIO of a nurse case management company.
Les recognized as early as 2013 that a growing gap between technological innovation and industry adoption in healthcare and insurance was unsustainable — a thesis validated when generative AI emerged as the catalyst that finally closed it. Today, he helps organizations on both sides of that gap: the carriers, TPAs, and healthcare providers navigating AI adoption, and the professionals whose roles are being reshaped by it.
His approach is governance-first and human-centric, rooted in the conviction that sustainable AI transformation requires upskilling people — not just deploying technology. Les holds the IAPP AI Governance Professional (AIGP) credential and multiple Microsoft Azure AI certifications, positioning him at the intersection of technical capability and regulatory compliance.
Les's current work includes deploying AI-enabled systems for medical referral management, developing AI governance frameworks for HIPAA-regulated environments, and advising organizations on identifying and mitigating risks associated with AI-generated content in professional and legal contexts. He is based in Venice, Florida.
Brian Watkins
Chief Legal Officer, Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals
Brian is an industrial appeals judge and the chief legal officer for the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals. He has over 24 years of experience as an administrative law judge, and 17 years as a workers' compensation judge. He's served as a hearing judge, review judge, mediator, senior judge, and assistant chief judge. He also worked as a senior administrative law judge with the Washington Office of Administrative Hearings, as an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project in Seattle, and as a legal editor for Texas Lawyer Newspaper. He graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law) and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Since 2016, Brian has served as a faculty member in administrative law at the National Judicial College. At NJC, he teaches decision writing, hearing techniques, and other courses. He's a former board member of the National Association of Administrative Law Judges, formerly co-chaired the Pro Se Committee of the Washington State Access to Justice Board, and served as the president of the Washington State Administrative Law Judges Association. He really loves to play guitar, cook, listen to vinyl records, hike, and be a dad to his three sons.
Ed Wise
Managing Deputy Commissioner, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
D. Edward Wise, Jr. serves as the Managing Deputy Commissioner at the Bristol Regional Office of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. A graduate of East Tennessee State University and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Ed brings over two decades of legal experience to his role. Prior to joining the Commission in 2016, he spent 23 years in private practice across Virginia and Tennessee. Ed currently presides over the Bristol and Galax hearing dockets, adjudicating On-the-Record disputes, and regularly mediating cases. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Ed is deeply committed to the legal community as an active member of the NAWCJ, SAWCA, Inns of Court, and a Board member of Kid’s Chance of Virginia. Ed is certified as a Mentor Mediator by the Supreme Court of Virginia and enjoys sharing his experience speaking and mentoring others. He has been happily married to his wife Pamela for 34 years, with whom he shares three sons. Now enjoying life as empty nesters, Ed and Pamela cherish traveling, church, volunteering, and spending time with their dogs.
Amy Young
Administrative Law Judge, Missouri Division of Workers Compensation
Amy L. Young serves as an Administrative Law Judge for the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in the Cape Girardeau, Missouri office. She was appointed to the bench on January 2, 2019. Prior to her appointment Judge Young accumulated 18 years of extensive experience in workers’ compensation law. Throughout her career she handled all aspects of workers’ compensation cases, representing employers, insurers, uninsured employers, employees, the Second Injury Fund, the Central Accident Reporting Office and medical providers. Her broad experience on behalf of diverse stakeholders provides her with a comprehensive understanding of the workers’ compensation system. Judge Young earned her Juris Doctor in 2000 and her Bachelor of Social Work in 1997 both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Judge Young lives in her hometown with her husband and their 14-year-old son.
