Attorney Profile

Andrea Cicero Rock

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Areas of Practice

Workers' Compensation

Contact Info

(215) 575-2756
ACRock@mdwcg.com

Andrea is a member of the Workers' Compensation Department and concentrates her practice in the defense of employers and self-insureds in all manner of workers' compensation matters. She represents employers in many industries, including retail services, banking, construction and manufacturing, in addition to assisted living facilities and religious organizations. 

In 1999, Andrea earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from American University. Following her time in Washington, Andrea returned to the Philadelphia area and received her juris doctor from Widener University School of Law in 2002. Andrea is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the U.S. District of New Jersey. 

The Commonwealth Court stands firm on employer credit/retroactivity.

Workers' Compensation
Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in favor of our employer client, holding that it was error to “erase” the 500-week employer credit provided by Act 111 for partial disability benefits paid beginning in 2008, and that the claimant’s 2019 reinstatement to total disability status did not retroactively convert those prior partial disability benefits into total disability benefits. 

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Defense limits liability to 14 months of benefits.

Workers' Compensation

The claimant filed a claim petition alleging that she sustained a contusion to the back of her head, a concussion, bilateral shoulder pain and neck pain. The judge found the claimant credible and that an incident did occur in the course and scope of her employment. However, the judge also found the employer’s medical expert credible. The employer’s medical expert found that the claimant was fully recovered as of the date of the Independent Medical Examination. This limited the receipt of indemnity and medical to fourteen months, rather than an ongoing claim.

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Successful Prosecution of a Modification/Suspension Petition

Workers' Compensation

Successfully prosecuted a modification/suspension petition on behalf of a large financial institution nearly 12 years after the claimant’s injury. ​The claimant sustained injuries to her left shoulder and cervical spine in October of 2005. Since that time, she had two cervical spine surgeries and two shoulder surgeries. The defense established that the claimant was able to return to work in a sedentary-duty capacity, working from home in a telemarketing position, thus modifying her total disability benefits to partial disability.

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Significant Representative Matters

Successfully defeated a claim petition for an alleged work-related heart attack.

Defeated a claim petition for psychological injuries involving an employee who also had a discrimination matter pending in federal court. 

Defeated a review petition which alleged that the description of injury should be amended to include depression and post-traumatic stress disorder when the claimant had been out of work for a physical injury since 1989. 

Obtained successful decision in a funded employment case for a long-time 1992 cognitive dysfunction injury. Proved that a position created for claimant through a different employer, but for which the salary was going to be funded by the employer, was within claimant's restrictions as set by an independent medical evaluator. Able to discredit on cross examination claimant's long-time treating psychiatrist. The Workers' Compensation Judge granted our modification petition based on salary that claimant would have received had he accepted the position. 

Defeated a claim petition for benefits filed in Pennsylvania, despite the employer being headquartered there, persuading the judge that there weren't enough significant contacts to bring it into Pennsylvania jurisdiction.

Classes/Seminars Taught

Got Pain? How to Recognize and Assess Pain Including the Identification of Pain Generators in Work Injuries and Novel Treatment Options, Philadelphia Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section webinar, May 17, 2024

Navigating the Medicare Maze in Workers’ Compensation, Philadelphia Bar Association Workers’ Comp Compliance Crusher 2023, webinar, August 18, 2023

Alternative Treatments in Chronic Pain Management: Ethically Treating Outside of Opioids – panelist, Philadelphia Bar Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 9, 2019

Opioids: Balancing Real Pain Needs vs. Addiction, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 25, 2018

Alternative Treatments in Chronic Pain Management: Treating Outside of Opioids, Philadephia Bar Association's Bench Bar 2018 Conference, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2018

Legal Remedies for Workers with Disabilities, Philadelphia Bar Association, Philadelphia, PA, June 9, 2017

Understanding Medical Records, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 27, 2016

Sidelined: Traumatic Brain Injuries, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 22, 2015

Social Media Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 30, 2014

Valley of the Dolls: Drugs, Drugs, Drugs, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 27, 2011

Catch Me If You Can: A Social Media Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, Philadelphia, PA, November 30, 2012

WLF Work/Life Panel Discussion presented by the Temple Women's Law Caucus and OUTLAW, Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2012

Published Works

"When Filing a Petition Can Result in an Award of Attorney Fees," The Legal Intelligencer, October 6, 2022 

Contributing author, Philadelphia Bar Reporter, April 2017, June 2017

"Litigation: Deposing Adjusters Without a Basis," Pennsylvania Law Weekly, April 19, 2016

"The Disregarded Diagnosis--How to Litigate the Termination Petition Without an Unreasonable Contest," Defense Digest, Vol. 19, No. 4, December 2013, co-author

"Compelling Social Media Issues in Litigation," Defense Digest, Vol. 19, No. 1, March 2013, co-author

Admissions
New Jersey
2002
Pennsylvania
2002
U.S. District Court District of New Jersey
2002
Education
Widener University School of Law (J.D., 2002)
American University (B.A., 1999)
Associations & memberships
American Bar Association
Greater Philadelphia Executive Claims Council
Philadelphia Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section Co-Chair (2017-2018) and Co-Chair Elect (2016); Marketing and Communications Committee member
Year joined
2004