Thalken, Timothy J.

I am proud to say that workers' compensation and social security disability law has been a part of my life almost from childhood. My father, Lawrence Klein, was a pioneer in the field of workers' compensation. I began my apprenticeship at the age of fifteen, working summers in my father's growing law practice. In the many years since, I have progressed from clerk, to claims examiner, to licensed claimants' representative, to attorney always expanding and refining my knowledge of the law and of the Byzantine system that can sometimes obstruct the ends of justice for the injured worker and small businessman, unless it is negotiated by an aggressive and experienced practitioner.

I have given classes and workshops, and written newsletter articles, for many local unions and Teamsters, including asbestos workers, hazardous waste carters, drivers of baked goods and dairy products, EMS paramedics, butchers and meat-wrappers, the Municipal Police Benevolent Association, and the Mason Tenders Training Fund, SEIU 1199 and Locals 108 and 79, DC 9, Painters and Allied Trades, The National Day Laborers Network and The Workers' Justice Project. I have also taught for the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, at the Chinese Community Center in Manhattan. I have published an article in the chiropractic journal, New Directions, and I was interviewed by the State Bar News on workers' compensation and carpal tunnel syndrome. My article on labor unions and workers' compensation law appeared in the online magazine Labor Press.

I am proud to have donated my time and the time of my staff to the Workplace Project, El Centro Del Inmigrante, The Latin American Workers Project, N.I.C.E. (New Immigrant Community Empowerment) The Mexican Consulate, and also to The Dejus Center; all organizations dedicated to the empowerment of immigrant workers.

After the tragedy of 9-11, I was honored to be invited by Mount Sinai Hospital's Health for Heroes program to address workers who were disabled as the result of working at Ground Zero, and I have since come to represent hundreds of such injured and disabled Ground Zero cleanup personnel.

I have been interviewed on construction safety and Workers' Compensation on Univision Channel 41. I am a member of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and I am also a member of the New York Immigration Coalition.

I have been interviewed about the epidemic of uninsured employers in The China Press, SingTao Daily, and in the Ming Pao Daily News.

I have been presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Latino Laborers Culture Association Local 79 in recognition for my continued support.

I have taught a CLE jointly sponsored by the Workers Education Resource Center and the New York City Comptroller's Bureau of Labor Law.

I taught a seminar in Workers' Compensation, Personal Injury, Wages & Hours, and Social Security Disability Law for Continuing Visions: Continuing Education For The Funeral Profession.

David is the author, with Julio Torres Quintanilla, of the book, English for Day Laborers and Construction Workers, a publication designed for ESL classes for Spanish-speaking working men and women.