Attorneys

Donald Fernstrom joined Arthur, Chapman, Kettering, Smetak & Pikala, P.A., Of Counsel after practicing for 16 years as staff counsel for Travelers Insurance Company and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company.  He specializes in Minnesota workers' compensation law.  Don has had extensive experience representing insurers and their insureds before the Office of Administrative Hearings, Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court.  He has also made numerous workers' compensation law presentations to insurance company claims personnel.

Don is a charter member of the National Association of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals (NAMSAP) and is nationally recognized as a Medicare Set-Aside Consultant Certified by the Commission on Health Care Certification.   He has been a speaker at numerous seminars on the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and the impact of Medicare Set-Aside Trust issues on workers' compensation, no- fault, automobile, general liability, and group health insurance claims, as well as claims arising under the Federal Employee's Liability Act (FELA) and the Long Shore and Harbor Workers Act.  

He also has experience in social security, assisting claimants in becoming eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance, which frequently proves beneficial to employers, insurers, self-insured employers, and third-party administrators who wish to take advantage of the social security offset on permanent total disability cases.

Don has a federal workers' compensation practice, which includes cases under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.  He has participated in national seminars on the Longshore & Harbor Workers' Act and looks forward to the continued development of this federal practice.