What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration granted; WCJ's Findings and Order of November 4, 2024, rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings to determine reasonable value of medical-legal services.
Petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Order issued by the WCJ on November 4, 2024, granted by the WCAB panel on January 27, 2025, rescinding the WCJ decision and returning the matter for further proceedings.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The Appeals Board found that the cost petitioner met its burden to show a contested claim existed when the expenses were incurred and that the subpoenaing of records from the prior attorney and treating physician was reasonable and necessary, overruling the WCJ's contrary findings.
From the decision · page 5A lien claimant holds the burden of proof to establish all elements necessary to establish its entitlement to payment for a medical-legal expense. (See Lab. Code, § 3205.5, 5705; Torres v. AJC Sandblasting (2012) 77 Cal.Comp.Cases 1113, 1115 [2012 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 160] (Appeals Board en banc).) Thus, a lien claimant is required to establish that: 1) a contested claim existed at the time the expenses were incurred; 2) the expenses were incurred for the purpose of proving or disproving the contested claim; and 3) the expenses were reasonable and necessary at the time they were incurred. (Lab. Code, § 4620, 4621, 4622(f); Colamonico v. Secure Transport, (2019) 84 Cal.Comp.Cases 1059 (Appeals Board en banc).)