ADR in the Workers' Compensation Arena

Mr. Benjamin James Vinson Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Ben Vinson was appointed as Chairman and Chief Appellate Judge of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation for the State of Georgia by Governor Brian Kemp in May of 2021. He previously served as Director and Appellate Division Judge for the Board having been appointed by former Governor Nathan Deal in July of 2017. In addition to hearing workers’ compensation cases onappeal, ChairmanVinson shares responsibility with Judges McKay and Bah lfor governing the state agency, which includes regulatory, policy,and operational matters.Prior to joining the Board, he was a partner at Dentons US LLP, focusing his practice on public policy and political law for over ten years. Before that he served as majority caucus counsel in the Georgia House of Representatives and as counsel to the administration floor leaders for former Governor Sonny Perdue. He clerked for Judge W. Brevard Hand of the United States District Court following law school and has been a long-time member of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. During his time at Dentons, he was appointed by Governor Deal to serve as Chairman of the Governor’s Commission on the City of Brookhaven and the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board. ChairmanVinson grew up in Dallas, Georgia and earned a bachelor’s degree from Furman University then a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a member of the editorial board and an articles editorof the Georgia Law Review. Heand his wife, Ansley, have two children and reside in Greensboro, Georgia

Hon. Neera Ahuja Bahl Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Judge Neera Bahl started her legal career in January 2005. Prior to starting her legal journey, Judge Bahl worked as a Research Specialist in the Pulmonary Department at The University of AL, Birmingham, and later in the Dermatology Department at Emory University, Atlanta. Transitioning to law (after 22 years) in 2005, she joined a small firm and eventually became a named partner in 2007. In 2009, she bought the same firm and founded Neera Bahl & Associates, specializing in all areas of Immigration and Family Law. Renamed One Path Legal in 2018, she sold the practice in 2019 and ran Neera Bahl Legal Consulting, LLC until her Judicial Appointment in August 2020. On August 17, 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp swore Neera Bahl into office as an Appellate Judge and Director of the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation. On July 8, 2024, Governor Kemp reappointed Judge Bahl to serve another four-year term in her capacity as Appellate Judge and Director of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation.

Judge Bahl is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award 2010 from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School as well as the “TIP Volunteer of the Year Award” in 2007. She is the recipient of the Glory of India Award in January 2012 and on the Super Lawyers List for 2012, 2013, and 2014. Ms. Bahl is the 2014 Honoree of the “I Am the Dream: Legends of a New Era” MLK Celebration. In July 2024, she was honored with an award as one of the 25 most influential Asian Americans in Georgia by the Georgia Asian Times. She is a member of several organizations, some of which include the State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), South Asian Bar Association of Georgia (SABA-GA), Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association (GAPABA), Multi Bar Legal Council, Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Georgia Indo American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC), and Cobb Chamber of Commerce. She is a former member of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Currently she serves on the Board of SAWCA (Southern Association of Workers’ Comp Administrators) and NAWCJ (National Association of Workers’ Comp Judges)

Judge Bahl served as the Chairwoman of the Regional Advisory Council of the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC-SE) after serving three years as the President of this organization. She also served on the Board of Advisory Council for the Chairman’s Club of Cobb Chamber of Commerce and on the Board of Diversity and Inclusion section of the Chamber. She was appointed by Governor Brian P. Kemp to serve on the Judicial Nominating Commission in January 2019. She was a member of Rotary Club of Marietta until 2021. She was appointed to serve on the Cobb Board of Elections in 2018 for a four-year term. Ms. Bahl strongly believes in giving back to the community and community service. She herself volunteers and helps at least six different volunteer and community service programs.

Hon. Edwina M. Charles Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

The Honorable Edwina M. Charles is the Division Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Division of the State Board of Workers’ Compensation (SBWC). She was promoted to this position effective November 1, 2023 after serving as the ADR Division’s Deputy Division Director for approximately four (4) years. In addition to managing the ADR Division, she also serves as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)—having been appointed by the Directors of the SBWC in June 2019. Judge Charles rules on motions and requests for attorney fee approval in non-litigated workers’ compensation claims pending across the state. Her role also includes serving as a mediator in litigated and non-litigated claims—assisting parties to resolve myriad issues and facilitating the settlement of workers’ compensation claims. Since 2015, Judge Charles has been a registered neutral through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.

Early in her career, Judge Charles worked as a judicial clerk in the State Court of Cobb County and as an Assistant Attorney General. She began her workers’ compensation career in 2007 as an associate at a midsized, Atlanta law firm, where she practiced workers’ compensation defense for almost six years, before becoming workers’ compensation staff counsel for a major insurance company. In August 2015, she began her tenure at the SBWC and as the Deputy Division Director of the Settlement Division. Immediately prior to her appointment as an ALJ, she devoted three (3) years to serving as an administrative attorney in the Appellate Division, where she assisted the Chairman and Directors with deciding workers’ compensation cases on appeal.

Judge Charles is a proud and loyal “Double Dawg.” Judge Charles earned her B.B.A. in Risk Management & Insurance from the University of Georgia’s (UGA) prestigious Terry College of Business and her J.D. from the UGA School of Law. Most recently, in May 2024, Judge Charles graduated from the Certified Public Manager® (CPM) program through UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG).

She enjoys watching UGA football, practicing yoga, and traveling. Judge Charles and her husband (Erik) have two (2) adult sons and two (2) cats. They worship and serve at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, GA, where Judge Charles sings on the choir and serves on the Board of Trustees.

Mr. David McGinnis Kay Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

In February of 2022, the Honorable David Kay was sworn in as the newest Administrative Law Judge in the ADR Division at the State Board.  He was the Settlement Division Director at the Board for the past decade; prior to that, he was a mediator in the ADR Division for six years.  He graduated with a B.A. in cinema from the University of Southern California and received his J.D. in 2003 from the Emory University School of Law.  Prior to working at the Board, Judge Kay worked as an associate at a workers’ compensation defense firm and as an Assistant Solicitor for Dekalb and Fulton Counties. 

Mr. Neil Chandler Thom Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Neil Thom is the Managed Care and Rehabilitation Division Director for the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.  Prior to this, he provided legal support to the three-member Board in its role as an appellate body in litigated workers’ compensation claims.  Before joining the Board staff, he spent 25 years in private legal practice, representing injured workers, employers, and insurers in workers’ compensation claims. 

Neil is a member of the Chairman’s Advisory Council, has authored numerous articles on workers’ compensation, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and continuing education programs.  He obtained his law degree as a Hatton Lovejoy Scholar and his Bachelor of Arts as a Foundation Fellow, both from the University of Georgia. 

Outside of professional activities, Neil’s interests include serving on the board of Trinity United Methodist Church, Atlanta, and managing an online community for francophones learning English. 

Neil can be reached at (404) 651-7831; ThomN@sbwc.ga.gov; State Board of Workers’ Compensation, 270 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta GA  30303. 

Hon. Viola Sellers Drew Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Judge Viola Drew is a graduate of Emory University School of Law. She has been an administrative law judge with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation for over 30 years.  She has also served as a Director of the Board, as Chief Judge, as Interim Executive Director, and as acting Director of the Licensure and Self-Insurance Division during her tenure with the Board.  She is currently serving as Deputy Executive Director of the Board, and she also continues to hear cases as an administrative law judge in Atlanta.  In addition, she serves as Ethics Counsel to the Board and as a member and staff liaison to the Advisory Council’s Rules Committee.

Hon. Johnny W. Mason Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Judge

State Board of Workers' Compensation

JUDGE JOHNNY MASON, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, obtained his B.A. in 1978 from the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained his law degree in 1984 from Woodrow Wilson College of Law. Judge Mason was in private practice as a trial lawyer from 1985 to 1995, primarily practicing in the areas of civil rights, domestic law, workers’ compensation, criminal defense, and personal injury. In 1995, Judge Mason was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation. In 2000, on appointment by the Governor, Judge Mason served for one year as Chief Judge of the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings and, thereafter, returned to the Workers’ Compensation Board where he continues to serve as an Administrative Law Judge.

Ms. Michelle Marie Thomas Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Michelle Thomas received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and her law degree from The Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. 

She began her legal career as a claimant’s disability attorney in her hometown of Athens, Georgia.  In 2000, she joined an insurance defense firm in Atlanta as a workers’ compensation associate.  Thereafter, she spent several years working for an insurance company as part of their workers’ compensation defense team, before returning briefly to private practice in 2016. 

In 2018, she joined the State Board of Workers’ Compensation as a mediator, helping parties to resolve issues and achieve settlement across the state.  In 2019, in addition to her role as a mediator, she began serving as a Staff Attorney for the Appellate Division of the Board, assisting the Appellate Judges with their decisions in workers’ compensation cases on appeal. Michelle became the Division Director for the Settlement Division of the Board in 2022.

In her free time, Michelle enjoys baking, reading, and yoga.  She is fluent in German and frequently travels to Germany to visit friends and family. 

Ms. Kimberly Piper Reaves Related Seminars and Products

State Board of Workers' Compensation

Kimberly P. Reaves, Mediator, ADR Division

            Ms. Reaves joined the Alternative Dispute Resolution Division at the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation as a Mediator on March 1, 2013.  Since joining the Board, she has mediated almost 4,000 cases on behalf of the ADR Division and has regularly presented on the topic of best mediation practices through ICLE Georgia, including for the ethics and professionalism credits.  Ms. Reaves completed her undergraduate degree in political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989, and then attended the Meredith College Program for Legal Assistants, following which she worked as a litigation paralegal in North Carolina for four years.  She then enrolled full-time at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1996.  Ms. Reaves was admitted to the State Bar of North Carolina in 1996 and was engaged in the private practice of law in North Carolina from 1996 to 2008, during which time she primarily represented insured and self-insured employers in workers’ compensation matters before the North Carolina Industrial Commission.  Ms. Reaves was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2008 and was engaged in the public practice of law from 2008 to 2013 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Workers’ Compensation Section at the Georgia Department of Law, where she represented all State agencies before the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation (Royal v. Pulaski State Prison, 750 S.E.2d 179, 324 Ga. App. 275 (2013)).  Ms. Reaves is married to Mr. Robert E. Stachler, II, a licensed patent attorney.  They enjoy taking their standard poodle, Georgette, to the dog park and on road trips.  Ms. Reaves is able to specially set your mediation through the ADR Division (reavesk@sbwc.ga.gov; 404-657-3830).