G. Duff Bloom with others

G. Duff Bloom graduated from the University of Washington, with B.A. degrees in comparative religion and political science. He also graduated from Willamette University College of Law. While attending Willamette, he was an appellate clerk at SAIF Corporation from 1989 through 1991. He was hired by Coons, Cole and Cary, PC, in Eugene, Oregon, in November 1991, and worked there until he left Cray, Wing, Bloom and Edmunson, PC in 2003. He has served the Workers’ Compensation Board as the Medford administrative law judge since November 2003 and is also certified to provide mediation services. Mr. Bloom has been an active member of the Oregon State Bar Workers’ Compensation Section, chairing the Electronic Communications and Rules Subcommittees, the OTLA/OWCA Executive Board and the OTLA Amicus Curiae Committee. He has prepared materials for and presented at many Bench-Bar forms, CLE and management seminars over the years, for the OTLA/OWCA, for the Workers’ Compensation Board, for the Oregon State Bar Workers’ Compensation Section, for the Oregon State Bar Employment Law Section, and for various private CLE and business management companies.

James C. Egan earned his B.S. degree in political science and economics at Willamette University. After a tour in the Marine Corps, he returned to Willamette Valley and attended the University of Oregon School of Law, where he graduated with a J.D. degree. He has practiced law as an associate and then as a partner at the law firm of Kryger, Alexander, Egan, Elmer & Carlson for the last 20 years. Mr. Egan has served as an officer in the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Oregon State Bar Association, as well as a member of the Affirmative Action Committee and the House of Delegates. He is the past president of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Attorneys (OWCA), which became a section of the Oregon Trial Lawyers’ Association. He is the current president of OTLA. Mr. Egan represents injured workers before the Workers’ Compensation Board, and he advocates for consumers and victims of injury in state and federal civil courts.

Abigail L. Herman was sworn in as chair of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board on August 8, 2005. Before accepting the governor’s appointment, Ms. Herman was an administrative law judge for the Workers’ Compensation Board in the Portland office from 1994 to 2005. In this capacity, she presided over hearings, and issued verbal and written decisions and opinions under the workers’ compensation and safe employment act. Prior to this employment, Ms. Herman was a senior staff attorney for the Workers’ Compensation Board, assisting the members in their review of cases on appeal. Before that, she worked for SAIF Corporation as trial counsel, where she tried contested cases before the Workers’ Compensation Board. Ms. Herman has a B.S. degree from the University of Oregon. She also holds a law degree from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College. She has been a member of the Oregon State Bar since 1987. Until her appointment as chair of the Workers’ Compensation Board, Ms. Herman was the chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Oregon State Bar (2005). She is also a former board member of the Oregon Association of Administrative Law Judges (1998 to 2000).

Mustafa T. Kasubhai was confirmed by the full senate on August 26, 2003, as a member of the Workers’ Compensation Board. He was appointed by Governor Kulongoski. Before accepting the appointment, Mr. Kasubhai had represented legal interests of Oregon injured workers and plaintiffs in civil litigation for six years. His scope of representation included litigation before the Workers’ Compensation Hearings Division, the Workers’ Compensation Board, Circuit Court and the Oregon Court of Appeals. He represented injured workers and plaintiffs in southern Oregon and primarily in the Klamath Falls area. Mr. Kasubhai holds a law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and has lived in Oregon since 1993. He received his undergraduate degree from the Haas School of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Greig Lowell was appointed to the Workers’ Compensation Board in April 2002. He has more than 18 years of workers’ compensation experience with insurance companies, self-insured employers and third-party administrators. He is past president of the Oregon Self-Insurers Association and chaired their Legislative Committee. He has been an instructor in workers’ compensation courses for the Insurance Education Association and Lane Community College. Mr. Lowell is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a workers’ compensation claims examiner certificate and a general lines adjusters license, and has been a licensed private investigator.

David O. Wilson works for Johnson, Nyburg & Anderson. He has experience with Liberty Northwest Insurance Corporation, advising case managers and employers, and litigating or negotiating workers’ compensation cases. He has handled an increasing appellate load over the last three years, briefing and arguing before the court of appeals. Mr. Wilson has served on numerous professional organizations, most recently on the review board for the July 2004 bar exam. He is the co-author of the 2003 Workers’ Compensation Sections of Oregon Statutory Time Limitations publication. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Appellate Review Committee of Liberty Northwest Insurance Corporation and is a frequent presenter for CLE programs and professionalism forums. He earned his B.A. degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and his J.D. degree from the University of Oregon.