Alfred J. Carlson

Top rated Workers' Compensation attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Martin Law LLC
Alfred J. Carlson
Martin Law LLC
215-587-8400
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Practice Areas: Workers' Compensation

Licensed in Pennsylvania since: 1992

Education: Widener University – Delaware Law School

Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2024

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Martin Law LLC

1818 Market St
35th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103 Visit website

Representing clients in eastern Pennsylvania, Alfred J. Carlson is partner at Martin Law LLC. He handles cases of workers’ compensation and devotes all his time to litigation. Since 2013, he has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America and has been a member of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel’s Top One Percent since 2016. The Supreme Court in Pennsylvania has authorized him as specialist certified by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Section on Workers' Compensation Law.

Admitted to practice in the state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Carlson graduated from Villanova University in 1989, earning his Bachelor of Science cum laude. He then attended Widener University, where he earned a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor in 1992.

Mr. Carlson is on the Board of Directors for the Justinian Society of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Vice President of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, and a legislative liaison for the workers’ compensation section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, former co-chair of the same section and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Strong client advocacy, professional work ethic and knowledge of the law set him apart from other attorneys.

While Mr. Carlson represents his clients, he also shares his knowledge by guest speaking on Pennsylvania workers’ compensation at Villanova University School of Law, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and CLE. One of his most groundbreaking cases involved a store manager receiving compensation for PTSD after his liquor store was robbed. The decision was a victory for service and retail workers all across Pennsylvania. One of his most recent cases was a win for an airline worker in a commonwealth court case.

Practice areas

Workers' Compensation: Claimant
  • 100% Workers' Compensation: Claimant

First Admitted: 1992, Pennsylvania

Professional Webpage: https://www.paworkinjury.com/attorney/alfred-j-carlson/

Educational Background:
  • Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, B.S., in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, 1989
  • Widener University, Wilmington, Delaware, M.B.A., 1992
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
  • THE DETAILS: Watson is a training supervisor of Piedmont Airlines, training new gate agents at the Philadelphia International Airport. On February 5, 2016, claimant’s wife dropped him off at the employee parking lot in order for him to get on the employee shuttle to the airport and start his shift. While walking to the shuttle stop, Watson slipped and fell on a pile of snow, breaking his right ring finger. In March 2016, Watson along with his attorney Al Carlson filed a claim petition for him to receive both medical and indemnity benefits for the time he was out of work. In March 2017, the Workers’ Compensation Judge awarded Watson’s claim petition stating that he was within the course and scope of his employment and entitled to indemnity benefits, up until May 31, 2016 at which point he returned to work, and ongoing medical benefits. Piedmont Airlines appealed the decision stating the employee was not required to use the employee parking lot and therefore was not within the course and scope of his employment. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board affirmed the WCJ’s decision and Piedmont Airlines again appealed to the Commonwealth Court. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR EMPLOYEES WHO USE A DESIGNATED PARKING LOT: The court reaffirmed its decision from previously this year in US Airways, Inc. v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Bockelman), 179 A.3d 1177, 1180 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2018) that any area that is customarily used as a means to access the employer’s business can be considered part of the premises, regardless of ownership. Simply it allows employee’s who commute to their employer’s business by employee a designated parking lot, to receive indemnity and medical benefits after an injury arises from the condition of the parking lot. Attorney Al Carlson feels that “this is an important decision, as it effects not only everyone working at the Philadelphia International Airport, but anyone whom is injured in Pennsylvania in a similar situation.”, 2018
  • THE DETAILS: Kochanowicz, manager of a Bucks County liquor store, had worked for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (LCB) for approximately 30 years when the store was robbed at gunpoint in April of 2008. During the robbery, Kochanowicz had a gun pointed at him and prodded against the back of his head, was verbally threatened and bound with duct tape. Unable to return to work, he filed for total disability benefits, which were initially awarded. However, in 2011, the LCB appealed his claim and the Commonwealth Court halted the benefits saying that Kochanowicz, having attended training and given pamphlets on the handling of a robbery, should have been prepared that a robbery was “normal” for the job. Kochanowicz, with his attorney Al Carlson, appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, who in February of this year vacated the Commonwealth Court’s decision, restoring wage benefits. That decision compelled the lower court to convene and issue an entirely new decision after Carlson was called to argue the case before the Commonwealth Court in October. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR WORK-RELATED PTSD DISORDERS: This decision comes just over a year after Payes v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Commonwealth Pa. State Police) was decided. In Payes, a state trooper’s claim for workers' compensation for PTSD was first denied by the Commonwealth Court but later awarded by the Supreme Court. The trooper had struck and killed a woman who purposely ran in front of his patrol car while he was travelling to his barracks to begin a shift. While the court noted that “normal” working conditions for those in law enforcement included accidents, bodily injuries and death, in that particular instance, “a mentally disturbed individual running in front of a Trooper’s vehicle…for no apparent reason…[is] extraordinary and unusual,” and, as an abnormal working condition, was compensable. These and other cases indicate a shift toward recognizing that bona fide work injuries are not always physical., 2014
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
  • Workers Compensation , Lecturer, Tough Problems in Workers Compensation, PBI, 2021
  • Villanova University, Lecturer, Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Law, Villanova University, 2020
  • Aug. 2013 - Aug. 2015, Lecturer, How to Handle a Workers' Comp Mediation, Continuing Legal Education (CLE), 2015
  • March, 2014, Faculty Member, I Know What you Did Last Weekend: Use of Social Media in Workers’ Compensation Litigation, Continuing Legal Education (CLE), 2014
Special Licenses/Certifications:
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2022
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2021
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2020
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2019
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2018
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2017
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2016
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2015
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2014
  • Certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Section on Workers' Compensation Law as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 2013
Bar/Professional Activity:
  • President Elect, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, 2022
  • President Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, 2023
  • Vice President, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, 2021
  • Board of Directors, Justinian Society of Philadelphia (2020-2021), 2021
  • Member, Board of Directors, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, 2011- Present, 2021
  • Secretary, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association (2019-2020), 2020
  • Nominating Committee, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association , 2019
  • Nominating Committee, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association , 2018
  • Co-Chair, Philadelphia Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section, 2008
  • Pennsylvania, 1992
  • Member, Pennsylvania Association for Justice
  • Philadelphia Bar Association's, Workers' Compensation Section, Member
  • Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Member, Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association
Honors/Awards:
  • since 2013, Best Lawyers in America, BestLawyers.com, 2023
  •  since 2013, Best Lawyers in America, BestLawyers.com, 2022
  •  since 2005, Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, SuperLawyers.com, 2021
  • 2009, 2011-2016, 2019-2021, Top 100 Philadelphia Super Lawyer List, SuperLawyers.com, 2021
  • 2009, 2012-2015, 2019-2020, Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer List, SuperLawyers.com, 2020
  • National Association of Distinguished Counsel

Office location for Alfred J. Carlson

1818 Market St
35th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Phone: 215-587-8400

Selections

20 Years Super Lawyers
  • Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2024

Top Lists

Top 100: Pennsylvania Super Lawyers: 2009, 2012 - 2015, 2019 - 2020, 2024
Top 100: Philadelphia Super Lawyers: 2009, 2011 - 2016, 2019 - 2024

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