We represent injured workers all over the State of Georgia.

Toney Tomaso, a shareholder at Heyl Royster, led the Workers’ Compensation Practice Group for ten years and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Committee for DRI. He emphasizes a collaborative defense strategy for workers’ compensation claims, actively engaging with insureds and carriers/TPAs to optimize outcomes. Additionally, Toney is a committed member of the Foundation Board for the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, fostering hope and opportunity for children in need.

Judge Deb Sundquist has served on the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals since her appointment by Governor Dayton in 2015. Before that, she was an attorney/ shareholder at Aafedt, Forde, Gray, Monson & Hager, PA. She previously worked as a senior staff attorney for CIGNA Insurance and an associate attorney at the law fi rm of Meagher Geer, PLLP. As an attorney, she represented both employees and employers.

Jacqueline Blanton Steele graduated with honors from FSU College of Law in 1994. She spent twenty-five years as a defense attorney and shareholder in the law firm of McConnaughhay, Coonrod, Weaver & Stern, PA. In 2020, she was appointed to the county court bench in Manatee County, Florida where she currently serves. Judge Steele chairs the Zehmer National Moot Court program to encourage student interest in workers’ compensation.

Ben Gerber is a founder and currently the managing partner of the law firm Gerber & Holder. His practice is dedicated to representing individuals who have been injured while working. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects related to workers’ compensation, is an active board member of WILG co-chairing conferences throughout the country, and is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia and George Washington University Law School.

Chris McCurdy is a shareholder and Workers’ Compensation Department head at Wallace Saunders, a medium-sized law firm headquartered in Overland Park, KS, with offices in Kansas and Missouri. Chris is a 1995 Washburn University Law School graduate. Chris has focused his practice upon representation of employers, insurance carriers and self-insureds in workers compensation matters.

Aaron Halstead is a shareholder in Hawks Quindel’s Madison office, which he was instrumental in founding in 1995. His practice is focused on representation of employees in worker’s compensation and employment litigation matters. Attorney Halstead also devotes a substantial portion of his worker’s compensation practice to representing injured Spanish-speaking employees.

Attorney Halstead has represented employees, and labor and community-based organizations before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Wisconsin, as well as before various state and federal administrative agencies.

Daniel M. Pedriana is a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of Lindner & Marsack, S.C. His current law practice primarily focuses on defending worker’s compensation claims for the insurance industry and self-insured employers. He also frequently handles related employment and subrogation issues. Mr. Pedriana was an in-house attorney for a major insurance company prior to joining Lindner & Marsack, S.C., defending against personal injury, property damage, and worker’s compensation claims. He has also handled various related subrogation claims.

Mr. Pedriana frequently lectures and speaks on worker’s compensation law, along with related labor and employment law and subrogation topics, in Wisconsin and throughout the country. Mr. Pedriana spent two years, during his attendance at the University of Wyoming College of Law, working for the Wyoming Public Defender’s office. There, he argued before the Supreme Court of Wyoming. Following law school, he completed a judicial clerkship with New Mexico’s Fifth District Court and wrote appellate briefs to the New Mexico Supreme Court. In 2019, Mr. Pedriana was honored by being selected as a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers. The College was established to honor those attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their practice in the field of worker’s compensation. He was previously named a “Rising Star” by Wisconsin Super Lawyers. Mr. Pedriana has a peer rating review of AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Pedriana strongly supports continued education. He received three undergraduate degrees and he is an adjunct faculty member at a local university. Mr. Pedriana teaches classes in labor and employment law, business law, and business ethics.

Stephen McManus is a managing shareholder at McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips’ St. Louis office. He represents employers, insurance carriers, and third party administrators in the defense of workers’ compensation claims. Mr. McManus has been practicing law in Missouri and Illinois for 28 years. He is a popular presenter at seminars and conferences.

Robert H. Zilske is the founding shareholder of Zilske Law Firm S.C. formed in 1995. He received both his B.A. and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as an administrative law judge for the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Division before entering private practice devoted primarily to worker’s compensation defense.
Mr. Zilske is a Fellow of the College of Worker’s Compensation Lawyers, carries a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent 5.0 Rating, has been listed in Best Lawyers in America annually for over twenty years, and has been listed in Super Lawyers in Wisconsin every year since its initial publication.
Mr. Zilske is a member of the Defense Research Institute, The State Bar of Wisconsin and its section on Labor and Employment Law, and the American Bar Association including its sections on Labor and Employment Law and Tort and Insurance Practice. He is past-president of the permanent Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Forum, a non-profit corporation providing educational programming to the worker’s compensation community in Wisconsin. Mr. Zilske is former Wisconsin state chair of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, a national organization dedicated to ethical claims and litigation management.
Mr. Zilske has taught worker’s compensation law through the Marquette University Law School Extension and is co-author of the worker’s compensation chapters in two respected State Bar of Wisconsin publications. He is a frequent presenter to professional groups locally on Worker’s Compensation matters and nationally on medical legal topics including presentations to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery at their annual meetings.

Ella S. Parker focuses on workers’ compensation, representing employers and insurance carriers for over twenty years. She is a shareholder at Conklin Benham, PC, a member of the State Bar of Michigan Workers’ Compensation Section Council, and is the Editor of the Section’s Newsletter. She is also a past chair of the Grand Rapids Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section.

Eric Lanham has been representing employers and insurance carriers in defending workers’ compensation claims since 1993. His experience encompasses all areas of workers’ compensation practice, and he works with clients to identify and implement ways to reduce the number and severity of workers’ compensation claims. His expertise is in handling complex workers’ compensation claims, defining the limits of workers’ compensation and employer’s liability policies, and protecting his clients’ subrogation interests.

Mr. Lanham is a shareholder with the firm. He has served as the firm’s President and CEO and has been its managing partner. Mr. Lanham is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and is admitted to practice law in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. He has served on numerous boards and committees.