WSIA

WWCP sessions are taught by a selection of these and other volunteer faculty selected for their experience and knowledge of the Washington workers' compensation system:

Krishna Balasubramani
Krishna Balasubramani joined SBH Legal in 1996 and became a partner in 2000. Prior to joining the firm, Krishna was a pro tem Administrative Law Judge for the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board. He also worked at SAFECO Insurance and Stoel Rives, LLP. Krishna is admitted to practice in Oregon and Washington. He assists employers and insurers in Oregon and Washington with workers’ compensation and employment related matters. Krishna defends employers in connection with workers’ compensation, OSHA and general employment matters. He works closely with human resource managers, loss prevention managers, safety directors and claims adjusters to manage pre-litigation situations or to handle the litigation.

Julie Busch, MS, CDMS
Ms. Busch is a co-owner of Strategic Consulting Services, the state's largest vocational rehabilitation firm. She holds as Master's Degree in Organizational Psychology from Central Washington University, and has over 20 years of experience providing vocational assessment, rehabilitation planning, job analysis and expert testimony in Washington State. She provides vocational rehabilitation services to workers covered by Washington's State Fund and self-insurance, as well as federal workers' compensation systems such as the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.

Dennis Chong, M.D.
Dr. Dennis Chong is a physiatrist in Seattle, Washington and is affiliated with Swedish Medical Center - Cherry Hill. He received his medical degree from University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Sarah Cohen
Sarah joined SBH Legal in 2017 and became a partner in 2022.  She came to SBH Legal after working for several years in the areas of employment and insurance defense throughout the Pacific Northwest. Sarah currently represents Washington employers and insurers in workers’ compensation and related employment defense matters.

Denis Crane
Denis Craine graduated from Eastern Washing University in nursing and has been in active practice since 1983 and holds licenses in 12 states. His experience in occupational health and case management began in 1992 as a consultant for Oregon’s largest work comp carrier as a Nurse Consultant. Other roles in the arena include a manager for Concentra for the state of Oregon, field and telephonic case management experience with a TPA for both Washington and Oregon employers, including the State of Oregon for the Non-Complying Employers account. He served on the board and is a former President of the Work Comp Claims Association of Oregon. Currently, his is the team lead with oversight of 5 RN’s whose responsibility includes embedded Utilization Review (UR) in multiple statutes as part of their role.

Chris Fowler
Chris started her career in the administration of workers’ compensation claims at Todd Shipyards on their self-administered Federal Longshore program. From there she moved to Washington State claims administration for self-insured employers, handling claims for a variety of employers throughout Washington state. She has participated as a trainer for the Washington Self-Insurers Association for Claims I – IV and other curriculum and has maintained her certification to administer claims as granted by the Department of Labor and Industries throughout her career. Chris became a supervisor in 2010 and an account manager in 2017.

Gary Franklin, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Franklin is Medical Director for the Department of Labor & Industries and serves as a Research Professor in the Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Neurology, and Health Services at the University of Washington. Educated at Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. Franklin graduated from medical school at George Washington University and holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. He is board certified in Neurology, and is known for his groundbreaking work in developing guidelines for opioid dosing for chronic pain.

Michael Godfrey
Michael joined SBH Legal in 2017 and became a partner in 2023. He advises clients on mitigating risk and managing pre-litigation situations, but also represents his clients in all levels of litigation including administrative hearings, jury trials, and appellate litigation. His practice includes state and federal employment defense matters including workers’ compensation, wrongful termination, ADA, wage & hour, OSHA/WISHA claims, and all other employment-related discrimination claims.

Michael Harris, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael Harris received his Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Psychology from the University of Idaho and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Washington State University. He has been a Licensed Psychologist since 1983. Dr. Harris’ experience, research, training and lecturing covers a varied range within Behavior Medicine and has an emphasis on interdisciplinary treatments of individuals with chronic pain and other disabling biopsychosocial conditions. He joined the Pacific Rehabilitation Centers interdisciplinary medical rehabilitation staff in 1991 as a psychologist and is currently the Chief Operations Officer, Clinical Director, and Director of Outcomes. He also serves as an officer on the Pacific Rehabilitation Centers Board of Directors. Dr. Harris is an Advisor to the Western Washington COHE Alliance of Western Washington, serves as the secretary of the Washington Pain Interest Consortium, has served on numerous workers’ compensation committees and is a member of many national and international pain, health and psychology associations. Presentations and lectures during the past decade have focused on assisting health care groups and payers maximize the benefits of interdisciplinary Behavior Health interventions in reducing disability and enhancing wellness.

Kevin Kincade
Kevin Kincade has been in Washington workers' compensation for over twenty years. He was hired at Johnston & Culberson, Inc. in 1992 as a Staff Assistant and became a Claim Supervisor in 1997. In 1999, he was hired by Gallagher Bassett to be their Seattle Branch Manager. In 2004, Kevin was hired by Berkley Risk Administrators to be the General Manager of their Seattle office. In January of 2013 Kevin was hired by Eberle Vivian to be a Supervisor and an Account Manager. Kevin has extensive experience in handling claims, overseeing proper claims-handling of others, and working with the Department of Labor and Industries to resolve audits of self-insured clients.

Kristin McCoy
Kristin McCoy began her career in WA WC in 1990 working with injured workers and their attorneys to navigate the WC claim process in an occupational health clinic. In 1995 she began managing the day to day activities of a small IME firm in Tacoma, including scheduling examiners and examinees. She began her career at MES Solutions 17 years ago opening their WA office working as the sole operational employee handling all examiner recruiting, scheduling, records, and quality assurance, growing the office to its current 48 employees. Her current position is Regional Vice President for the Western Region, serving 13 Western states. Most recently Kristin served as the IME company and examiner representative on the legislative work group formed to make recommendations on SB6440.

Brett Schoepper
Brett, as a partner with The Law Office of Gress & Clark, focuses his practice exclusively on representing employers in the State of Washington in workers’ compensation matters.  Prior to joining this practice, Brett worked as a Deputy District Attorney for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in Portland, Oregon.  As a Deputy District Attorney, Brett aggressively prosecuted numerous criminal cases to verdict.  Brett has put that invaluable trial experience to good use in his current litigation practice primarily advocating on behalf of his clients’ interests before the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, Superior Court, Washington Court of Appeals and before the Supreme Court of the State of Washington.  Brett’s dynamic and forceful approach to contentious appeals has and continues to yield excellent results for his clients.  He too is extremely accessible and willing to work collaboratively to minimize potential exposure and best achieve a client’s goals.  He too has frequently been asked to speak on various industry topics on behalf of the Washington Self Insurers Association and has provided numerous training sessions with variety of claims examiners.  Please do not hesitate to contact Brett directly to see how he can be of service to you in addressing workers’ compensation claims in Washington State. 

Cory Turner, CRC
Cory Turner is a CRC with over 21 years of experience in the vocational rehabilitation field in Washington State. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and holds a M.Ed., with an emphasis in Guidance and Counseling. For the last 15 years, she has developed her firm – Vocational Connections Inc – into a team of experienced counselors recognized for their integrity and professionalism and take pride in providing high quality services, ethical services to injured workers, third parties, and employers. She has been active as a member and participation on local Boards in the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, WSIA, the Vocational Technical Stakeholders Group, and has volunteered to participate in several groups to improve the quality of vocational rehabilitation in the State of Washington. Ms. Turner has experience speaking at L&I, WSIA, and IARP sponsored events over the years. She strives to help identify win/win solutions to difficult situations with pride, honesty and integrity.

Gennia Wellington, WWCP
Gennia Wellington is the current Workers’ Compensation Manager for the self-insured self-administered workers’ compensation program at King County. She is celebrating her 20th year working in the workers’ compensation field. She is the proud bearer of the WWCP designation and WA State Self-Insured Department Claims Administrator certification.