Do Tax Court Judges Invest in Tax Shelters?

The Sacramento Bee reports that California’s 150 worker’s compensation judges are six times more likely to file on-the-job injury cases than their judicial counterparts in state government. 29 of California’s 184 worker’s comp judges (15.8%) have filed worker’s comp claims, compared to 9 of 378 (2.4%) other administrative law judges in California:

These gatekeepers of cash and medical benefits for injured workers have claimed injuries from rearranging artwork, slipping on a lunchroom puddle, loading a crate in a trunk or tripping over a phone cord. One filed a claim for writer’s cramp [Robert Eckhoff, pictured on the left].

Who judges the judges? Their colleagues on the workers’ comp bench. Who represents them in court? Sometimes, the very same lawyers and doctors who bring cases before them.

(Thanks to reader Ben Cunningham for the tip.)

About the Author

Paul Caron

Paul Caron was named Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law on June 1, 2017. Dean Caron joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2013 after serving as the Dorothy and Leonard Straus Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in the spring semesters of 2010 through 2013. He served as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Pepperdine in 2015-2017. Before coming to Pepperdine, he was Associate Dean of Faculty and Charles Hartsock Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

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