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Sarphie Law, LLC Advocating for injured workers in Louisiana workers’ compensation, federal workers’ compensation (FECA), and Longshore claims. Licensed in Louisiana and Texas.

Creator of Louisiana Comp Talk and committed to advancing workers’ comp policy and education.

08/24/2026

During the 2026 legislative session, the Legislature passed HB 456, which became Act No. 648. The new law dramatically expanded an employer's ability to file its own Form 1008 against an injured worker. Previously, the law limited employer-filed claims to specific circumstances involving fraud and Medical Director appeals. Act 648 added the much broader authority to file a claim concerning “any other dispute arising pursuant to” the Workers' Compensation Act.

When HB 456 was first presented, its proponents, including the bill sponsor, a longtime workers' compensation defense attorney, and a representative of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), said employers needed this authority primarily to obtain discovery. They argued that an employer paying benefits could not file suit and therefore could not compel depositions, subpoena medical records, or adequately investigate a claim.

Six days after the law took effect, an employer filed a lawsuit against its injured employee.

This was a bad accident that caused a lot of injuries. After several appeals to the State's workers' compensation Medical Director, a surgery was finally recommended for approval. So, the employer sues.

The employer's stated reason for filing was:

“Employer is filing suit to further investigate the subject accident and causation. Employer is specifically contesting whether Claimant could have injured all claimed body-parts.”

During the HB 456 hearing, a legislator warned: “The plea [of] I need more information is not a plea.”

LABI explained that the purpose was to let an employer file a lawsuit, conduct discovery, and obtain a decision while continuing benefits. But, in a legislative environment where workers' compensation attorneys are labeled as "trial lawyers" and the reason for workers' compensaiton insurance premiums being high and allegedly forcing employer out of the state, Act 648 (HB 456) creates more litigation and drives injured workers to get lawyers.

This is where the insurance/defense side says, "Well, you guys should like that [said in a very derogatory tone]."

But there is another practical problem for injured workers. Who is going to pay the attorney to defend these employer-filed lawsuits?

Many claimant attorneys still do not take a fee from weekly indemnity benefits. Now those attorneys may be expected to answer an employer's lawsuit, conduct and respond to discovery, prepare their client for deposition, defend the deposition, attend hearings, and potentially try the case, all on top of handling medical treatment and the day-to-day problems of the claim.

For claimant attorneys who previously chose not to take a fee from indemnity, Act 648 may make that model difficult to continue. Some may require an indemnity fee if they are expected to defend employer-filed litigation. Others may simply become more selective about the cases they accept.

That ultimately hurts injured workers by making representation more expensive and potentially harder to find when they have been sued.

So the concern is not only whether Act 648 allows an employer to file a lawsuit to go on a fishing expedition. It is also what happens to the injured worker who now has to defend that lawsuit?

It took only six days for that concern to stop being hypothetical.

I had the opportunity this week to speak at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Workers’ Compensation Law Course in Austin. ...
08/23/2026

I had the opportunity this week to speak at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Workers’ Compensation Law Course in Austin. This is my second year speaking at this conference that brought together attorneys, judges, and others from across the Texas workers’ compensation community.

My presentation, “Is It Longshore? A Quick Guide to Identifying Federal Maritime Workers’ Compensation Claims,” focused on an issue that can easily be missed in a traditional workers’ compensation intake: Is this really a state workers’ compensation claim, or does the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act apply?

For attorneys practicing along the Gulf Coast, that distinction can make a significant difference. My goal was to provide a practical framework for recognizing potential Longshore claims by looking beyond job titles and focusing on the facts that matter: where the worker was injured, what the worker was actually doing, who controlled the work, what compensation system applies, and whether other parties may be responsible.

I greatly appreciate TexasBarCLE and the Workers’ Compensation Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for inviting me to participate.

08/18/2026

This ranks about the saddest consequences of struggling through the OWCP/federal workers' compensation process.

I recently spoke with a federal employee who is approaching 11 years since her work injury and has been out of work for years. What began as physical injuries and chronic pain gradually became something much larger.

One of the harsh realities of OWCP is how difficult it can be to find providers willing to accept federal workers' compensation. Then, even when medical conditions have been documented and related to the original injury for years, treatment can remain stalled because those conditions were never formally added to the accepted claim. In this case, several conditions were only recently accepted after we formally requested expansion and directed OWCP to evidence already in the record.

Meanwhile, years of pain, limited treatment, lost independence, and fighting the system took a tremendous psychological toll.

She described severe depression and anxiety, trauma-related symptoms, isolation, and losing the motivation to perform even basic activities of daily living. She withdrew from friends and family because she feared being judged by people who could see what was happening to her physically but could not understand what she was experiencing mentally.

This is why a physical workers' compensation injury does not always remain a physical injury. Years of chronic pain and inadequate treatment can eventually affect a person's independence, relationships, dignity, and hope for the future.

But this conversation ended differently.

For the first time in a long time, I heard excitement in her voice. She finally has providers treating both the physical and psychological sides of her condition. She has family supporting her. Most importantly, she has a plan.

It has been a long road, but it is not the end of the road.

Recovery may start with very small steps. Take care of yourself. Accept help. Follow the plan. When a bad day comes, wash it away and start fresh tomorrow.

After nearly eleven years, she finally understands something that every injured worker struggling through this system needs to hear:
You do not have to fight the battle alone. Build your team. Make a plan. Keep moving forward.

I wish there were a courtroom where cases like this could be taken. People who have spent years fighting for treatment, only to suffer even greater physical and psychological harm while navigating the OWCP process, deserve their day in court. Unfortunately, that is not how the federal workers' compensation system works. But that doesn't mean these cases do not deserve a fight.

Cases like this need that fight, and I am glad to be able to fight it for them.

08/12/2026

Louisiana Workers’ Comp: Be Careful When Your Employer Keeps Paying Your Wages

A recent Louisiana First Circuit case, Ory v. HKA Enterprises Industrial Solutions, LLC, highlights a potential downside when an employer continues paying an injured worker’s regular wages instead of workers’ compensation benefits.

After Ory was injured at work, his employer paid him $46,654.40 in regular wages over 19 weeks while he was unable to work. The workers’ compensation benefits otherwise owed during that period would have totaled only $14,117.00.

When Ory later returned to light duty earning less than before his accident and sought Supplemental Earnings Benefits (SEB), the employer claimed a credit for the wages it had previously paid.

The First Circuit held that the employer was entitled to a dollar-for-dollar credit for wages paid in lieu of workers’ compensation. After subtracting the comp benefits that should have been paid during those 19 weeks, the employer was left with a $32,537.40 overpayment credit that could be applied against compensation owed to Ory.

The takeaway: An employer continuing your regular paycheck after a work injury may sound like a great deal, but those payments may not be a gift. Under Ory, they can potentially create a substantial credit against workers’ compensation benefits you may need later.

Before accepting wages in place of workers’ comp, make sure you understand how those payments are being characterized and whether your employer intends to claim a future credit.

Ory v. HKA Enterprises Industrial Solutions, LLC, 2025 CA 0430 (La. App. 1 Cir. Aug. 6, 2026).

General information only, not legal advice.

07/26/2026

I just had a call with an injured federal employee who, like many, treated the 45-day COP period like it is just paid time off while they recover. Big mistake

Your COP period is your opportunity to build your OWCP case before you ever ask for compensation.

This person's COP was ending and she was panicking because she had not been told what to do next. Her doctor had been taking her off work, she was still treating, and she assumed OWCP was reviewing everything as it happened.

They were not. Her claim was still sitting in short form closure.
For those unfamiliar, short form closure is an administrative process used for many minor traumatic injury claims. OWCP authorizes limited medical benefits but does not perform a full adjudication unless something happens that requires the claim to be developed, such as evidence of ongoing disability, medical expenses exceeding the short form threshold, or evidence supporting a schedule award.
The problem is that many injured federal employees think OWCP is automatically gathering records, reviewing treatment notes, and building their case.

That is not how the process works.

OWCP can only evaluate the evidence that is actually in the file. If your physician's reports never make it into ECOMP, or if those reports simply say "remain off work" without explaining what your diagnosis is, how the work accident caused that diagnosis, and why that diagnosis prevents you from performing your job, then OWCP has very little evidence on which to make a compensation decision.
Then day 46 arrives and COP ends.

The employee files a CA-7 expecting wage-loss compensation to begin, only to discover that OWCP has to start developing the claim because the evidence needed to support acceptance and disability was never submitted.

That is when panic sets in.

The transition from COP to compensation should not be a surprise. During those first 45 days, you should be using the time to build your file:

1. Obtain complete medical reports—not just work excuses.
2. Make sure your physician clearly identifies your diagnosis.
3. Ensure the physician explains how the diagnosed condition was caused by your work injury.
4. Have the physician explain why your medical condition prevents you from performing the duties of your position.
5. Upload your medical evidence into eComp as it becomes available.
6. Keep your claim file current instead of assuming someone else is doing it.

Think of your COP period as your opportunity to prepare OWCP to make a favorable decision. If the evidence is already in the file when you begin requesting compensation, the transition is much smoother than if OWCP has to begin developing the case after your pay has already stopped.

Too many injured federal employees do not realize this until the paycheck ends. By then, they are trying to build the foundation of their claim while simultaneously worrying about how they're going to pay their bills.

Do not waste your 45-day COP period.

Use it to build the evidence that OWCP will need when it is time to decide whether you are entitled to compensation.

07/26/2026

This week, I spoke with the spouse of an injured federal employee who has spent years trying to navigate the OWCP system largely on her own. She described countless hours reading regulations, organizing records, responding to government requests, advocating for her husband, and simply trying to understand what came next. Along the way, she struggled to find someone who would take the time to explain the process in a way that made sense, and not charge them just to take her call.

She was just looking for direction, and for the amount of time and sacrifice she invested into her husband's case I, thought she deserved it.

Sometimes the greatest value we can provide is not filing another form or preparing another appeal. It is helping someone understand where they are in the claim, what actually matters in the claim, what does not need to be done yet, and why.

By the end of our conversation, nothing about her husband's claim had changed, but she had. She had confidence and a roadmap. She understood which issues deserved attention now, which could wait, and what evidence would matter when the time eventually came.

I was not hired to represent her husband, and that is ok. I told her that she did not need (i.e., pay) me yet. Knowing that someone hung up the phone feeling less overwhelmed than when they called, and that they finally had clarity after years of uncertainty, is one of the most rewarding parts of practicing this type of law.

The OWCP is supposed to be a "nonadversarial system." I find it to be just the opposite. It can be incredibly difficult to navigate, especially for families trying to do everything right while also caring for an injured loved one. Sometimes people do not need someone to take over the fight. They simply need someone willing to listen and point them in the right direction.

Over the weekend, I was honored to be inducted as a Fellow into the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers’ Class of 2...
04/20/2026

Over the weekend, I was honored to be inducted as a Fellow into the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers’ Class of 2026. It is truly humbling to be recognized alongside such an accomplished group of attorneys and judges from across the country.

I am especially grateful to Chuck Davoli and Trey Mustian for their nomination, and to those who generously took the time to write letters of recommendation on my behalf. Your support means a great deal to me.

A special thank you as well to Chuck for traveling to the conference, sharing in this experience, and introducing me to so many outstanding individuals.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to testify before the Louisiana House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee in opp...
03/28/2026

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to testify before the Louisiana House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee in opposition to HB 357.

HB 357 attempts to tie Louisiana’s reimbursement structure to what it calls “reasonable when compared to the workers' compensation reimbursement schedule and have similar characteristics of surrounding states." That sounds harmless, until you look closer. The bill provides no defined methodology, no guardrails, and no transparency. It invites selective data picking and subjective decision-making by rate setters, with no accountability for how those “comparisons” are made.

So I went to the Capitol with data.

I had CPT codes across orthopedic care that compared Louisiana’s current reimbursement rates to Medicare and surrounding states like Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida. Louisiana has not meaningfully updated its fee schedule in nearly 30 years

The numbers showed that:
• Medicare reimbursement for procedures has declined over the last decade, not increased.
• When you look at true surrounding states, the results are inconsistent and cut against the bill’s premise. Some states reimburse higher than Louisiana, others lower, and none provide a uniform benchmark that justifies this approach.

When reimbursement fails to reflect the cost and complexity of care, and the delivery of such care, providers simply stop participating.

That is not theory. That is exactly what we see in federal workers’ compensation where low rates and administrative burden have driven providers out of the system, leaving injured workers without access to care.

I also put it in practical terms: a shoulder surgery reimbursed at roughly $1,600 under Louisiana’s current system would have paid around $650 under Medicare a decade ago, and even less today. The question that one Representative posed to me was simple: Who is getting out of bed to perform that surgery at those rates?

This is not about politics. It’s about access to care for injured workers and the sustainability of the system.

But instead of engaging with the data, the author of the bill chose a different approach in his closing remarks.

He stated that I “get paid a whole lot of money” to come to the Capitol and “tell lies,” accusing me of manipulating data to protect "the interests of a few doctors that are making handfuls of money."

In more than 20 years of practicing law, representing injured workers across this state and in federal systems, I have never once been accused of being a liar. It took going to the Capitol, testifying against a non-lawyer’s bill, to finally earn that label. I’ll take that as confirmation that the facts hit their mark.

As every lawyer knows:
“If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell" — Carl Sandburg

On Thursday, someone was doing a lot of table pounding.

Here I am on April 25, 2024, testifying in front of the Louisiana House Labor & Industrial Relations Committee about a b...
02/16/2026

Here I am on April 25, 2024, testifying in front of the Louisiana House Labor & Industrial Relations Committee about a bill that sought to reduce penalties against insurance companies for violations of the workers' compensaiton laws. I told the Committee that the real driver of delayed workers’ compensation payments is not employer behavior or worker misconduct; it is the unmanageable caseloads placed on overworked claims adjusters. Injured workers are the victims.

I explained to lawmakers that when an adjuster in Dallas or Nashville is juggling 150–170 files at a time, it is inevitable that benefits will be delayed, medical bills will go unpaid, and injured workers will be left without income for weeks. These delays do not happen because employers are trying to avoid their obligations. They happen because the people processing claims are simply overwhelmed.

I warned that reducing penalties or extending deadlines would only make this problem worse because it removes any incentive to prioritize Louisiana workers who depend on timely benefits to keep the lights on.

Last Firday I experienced the real-world proof of exactly what I told the Legislature. I was on a call with an adjuster about a 63-year-old claimant who had been out of work for two months since her accident without a single indemnity payment. The adjuster told me why this happened:
the office had lost four adjusters in one month. How bad of an operation are you running if you lose 4 staff in one month?

Every remaining adjuster was suddenly assigned 160–170 claims each. This adjuster was the 5th or 6th one to be on the file, and none of the prior adjusters reviewed the medical records or processed payments. Critical documents were in the system, but no one had time to look at them.

In other words, the claimant went unpaid, not because there was a dispute, not because there was a question about her injury, and not because she failed to report anything, but because the claims unit was drowning.

The exact structural failure I described to lawmakers in 2024 is happening every day to injured workers across our state.

Workers’ compensation only works if insurers handle claims promptly and responsibly. When adjusters are overloaded, injured workers suffer, employers face unnecessary litigation, and the entire system breaks down.

Strengthening, not weakening, accountability is the only path to a fair and functioning system.

It is time that the insurance industry eat crow and admit its role as a leading cause of delay inside our workers’ compensation system.

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3500 North Hullen Street, Ste. 18/225
Metairie, LA
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