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| | Settlement Agreement Underway In Case Of David Bautista And Petition Filed By Stockwell, Harris, Woolverton & Muehl
By Lonce LaMon - August 31, 2011
A further settlement conference took place on Friday, August 26th, at the Van Nuys Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board for the case of David Bautista, a hearing representative and lien specialist who worked for workers’ compensation legal defense firm Stockwell, Harris, Woolverton & Muehl for 14 years. David Bautista is now the Respondent to the Petitioner, which is a group of insurance companies, third-party administrators, and employers represented by the Stockwell law firm.
Back in February of this present year, Bautista resigned from Stockwell’s firm. Now, he works for the “other side”, the medical providers. As he expressed to this writer on August 12th, at his previous conference, “My only regret is that I didn’t do this 10 years ago.”
But, according to Stockwell, David Bautista needs to recuse himself from acting adverse to his former clients, and taking opposition on cases he worked on during his 14-year-career for their firm, for the sake and honor of the tradition of confidentiality in the client-attorney relationship.
Todd Mobley, a lawyer from Stockwell's office representing the Petitioner, hangs out by himself on the left, while (from left to right) David Bautista, York McGavin, and Steve Appell discuss the case outside at the Van Nuys WCAB. Photo by Wayne Chema
In the Petition, signed by attorney Steve Harris, it is stated that, “sadly”, the Petitioner is forced to file the pleading because Bautista had refused to recuse himself from appearances adverse to the Petitioner. This allows Bautista to “exploit and subvert the very defense strategy that he helped to create, implement, and execute, and which the Petitioner necessarily uses to defend itself before the courts throughout Southern California.”
There is a settlement agreement well underway. The reason for the continuance last Friday is because, according to Steve Appell, who represents David Bautista, “the settlement documents need tweaking.”
David Bautista, pictured above on August 12th 2011, worked for Stockwell's office based in Los Angeles as their lien specialist for 14 years up until February of 2011. After his resignation, he switched sides and started representing the Medical Providers. "My only regret is that I didn't do this 10 years ago," he said. Photo by Wayne Chema
“I have been communicating non-stop,” Appell said further. “The language has to be agreeable to both parties.”
He is very hopeful that there will be a full settlement on or before the next conference date, which has been set for 9:00 am on Friday, October 28th.
One thing is known about the in-the-works settlement at this time, and that is that David has fully agreed to recuse himself from the 64 cases that were in his inventory at the time he resigned last February. But, what isn’t known is what demands and restrictions will be agreed upon involving Bautista’s former clients and new cases created by them moving forward into the future.
The Van Nuys WCAB is in a rectangle of offices around a perifery, enclosing a patio adorned with beautiful trees and landscaping. Photo by Wayne Chema
Todd Mobley and Paula Harris, both lawyers from Stockwell’s office, showed up last Friday for the conference in representation of the Petitioner. Steve Appell, of Appell & Associates, and York McGavin, of Gibraltar Medical Supplies, were there to represent David.
Steve Appell expressed that he will be happy to give a copy of the settlement agreement to this writer once it is completed “as long as there is not a confidentiality agreement.”
“Do you believe at this time that there will be a stipulated confidentiality agreement about the settlement?” this writer asked Appell.
“I don’t know,” was Steve Appell’s answer.
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