The sections below are arranged by posture, which is a conclusion — to use them you
have to know the answer already. This table is the way in: find what is in your hand, and it names the
chain, the tab it is filed behind, and how long you have. Ordered by how little time you have.
One run through a case, intake to resolution. The coloured band on each
chain says whose clock it is — dark red where missing it ends the case, red where they
moved and the period is already running, green where the date is ours. The badge is the
shortest branch of the clock.
The case opens
Routineday one
what happens
A client signs upAPP-ADJ · tab 2
The authorisation and designation are the two that stop later work if missed — both go in every IMR packet, months later.
so somebody does17 tasks · due from the day the questionnaire is received
§1.1 · Client Intake Questionnaire
| Case manager | Open the matter and enter the clientCreate the contact — name, DOB, SSN, address, phone, email, preferred language; flag if an interpreter is needed. Create the matter — case type, jurisdiction, venue, side represented. Assign the handling attorney, paralegal and case manager. Record the referral source.dateMatter opened from the intake questionnaire dated {date}. Client, employer and carrier entered as parties. | Same day |
| Case manager | Enter the injury recordEnter the date of injury, the injury type (cumulative trauma or specific), and the CT date range if cumulative. Enter every body part with laterality. Enter the occupation and the injury description in the client’s own words.DOICT or specificbody partsInjury entered: {DOI}, {CT or specific}, {body parts}. Taken from the questionnaire; not yet verified against a medical record. | Same day |
| Case manager | Draft and send the client welcome packetAssemble the client packet — welcome letter, what to expect, how to document expenses — and send it with the signed fee agreement.datemail or emailWelcome packet and fee agreement sent to the client {date}, by {mail or email}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Send the authorizations for signatureGenerate the authorizations, send them to the client for signature, and diary for their return. Nothing can be requested on the client’s behalf until they come back signed.dateHIPAA, medical release and signature authorization sent for signature {date}. Diaried for return. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Confirm the DWC-1 and record the return dateAsk the client whether the employer gave them a DWC-1 and whether they returned it. If it was never given, generate it and serve it. Record the date the completed form went back to the employer.given / not givendateDWC-1 {given / not given} to the client. Completed form returned to the employer {date}. 90-day presumption calendared from that date. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Serve the notice of representationServe the employer and the carrier. Serve the treating doctor with a records request at the same time. File the proof of service.employercarrierdatedoctorNotice of representation served on {employer} and {carrier} {date}. Proof of service filed. Records request sent to {doctor}. | 3 days |
| Paralegal | Verify the wage and the employerCheck the average weekly wage against pay stubs or an employer wage statement. Confirm the employer’s legal name and address. Check the date of injury against a medical record. Check for concurrent employment, prior injuries to the same body parts, and other pending claims.amountpay stubs / wage statementnameAverage weekly wage verified at {amount} against {pay stubs / wage statement}. Employer legal name confirmed as {name}. | 5 days |
| Paralegal | Request the recordsSend a records release to every provider the client named. Request the personnel file and the wage records from the employer.providersdateRecords requested from {providers} {date}. Personnel file and wage records requested from the employer. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Confirm the MPN and the treating physicianDetermine whether an MPN applies and write to the client explaining what it means. Check whether the client predesignated a personal physician. Confirm who is treating now.applies / does not applyon file / nonedoctorMPN {applies / does not apply}. Predesignation {on file / none}. Treating physician confirmed as {doctor}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Calendar the statutes and the first reviewCalendar the one-year statute and the five-year statute from the date of injury. Set a 30-day file review and a status call with the client.dateOne-year statute calendared {date}. Five-year statute calendared {date}. 30-day review set. | Same day |
§1.2 · DWC-1 Claim Form
| Case manager | Establish whether the form was ever givenAsk the client directly: did the employer hand you a claim form, and did you fill it in and give it back? Get the dates. An employer who never provided one has not started the clock, and the client may not know that.given / never givendateCopy on file / noneClient states the DWC-1 was {given / never given} on {date} and returned on {date}. {Copy on file / none}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Serve the form if it was never givenIf the employer never provided a claim form, generate one, have the client complete and sign the employee section, and serve it on the employer. Keep proof of how and when it went.employerdatemethodDWC-1 completed by the client and served on {employer} on {date} by {method}. Proof of service filed. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Record the filing date on the injuryEnter the date the completed form went back to the employer. Every clock on this page runs from it. If the date cannot be established, say so on the file rather than entering a guess.datethe signed form / the client / the employer’s copyDWC-1 filing date recorded as {date}, taken from {the signed form / the client / the employer’s copy}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Calendar the ninety daysCalendar the ninety-day presumption from the filing date, assigned to the attorney. Set a fourteen-day check that benefits have started. If this is a presumptive injury, ask the attorney whether the seventy-five day period applies before calendaring it.dateyes — 75 days / noNinety-day presumption calendared to {date}. Fourteen-day benefits check set. Presumptive injury: {yes — 75 days / no}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Confirm the employer sent it to the carrierThe employer must forward the completed form to the claims administrator within one working day. Confirm it arrived and get the claim number. A form sitting on a supervisor’s desk is a claim nobody is adjusting.carrierdatenumberEmployer forwarded the DWC-1 to {carrier} on {date}. Claim number {number} obtained. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Enter the claim number and the adjusterAdd the carrier as a party with the claim number and policy number. Add the adjuster with a direct line. Take these from the carrier’s own paper — the delay letter, the benefit notice — not from what the client remembers.namenumberphoneCarrier {name} added with claim number {number}. Adjuster {name}, {phone}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Diary for the carrier’s decisionCheck whether benefits have started, whether treatment is being authorized, and whether a delay or denial letter has arrived. If nothing has happened and the ninety days are running, tell the attorney.datestarted / not startedauthorized / notdelay / denial / nothingCarrier status at {date}: benefits {started / not started}, treatment {authorized / not}, {delay / denial / nothing} received. | 14 days |
producing
25 templates in the library serve this
- Case Demographic Sheet
- Case Initiation Document
- Client Demo Sheet
- CLIENT-ADA Referral (Generic)
- CLIENT-Enclosure Letter for Client (Generic)
- CLIENT-Letter Medicare
- CLIENT-Medicare Information Form
- CLIENT-Potential Client
- CLIENT-Potential Client Appointment
- CLIENT-QME Defense with Questionnaire (Generic)
- Description of Employees Job Duties
- Employees Permanent Disability Questionnaire
- HIPAA AUTHORIZATION FORM
- MISC-Intake Packets Documenting Your Expenses (Generic)
- MISC-Intake Packets Golden Rules (Generic)
- MISC-Intake Packets Workers Comp Info (Generic)
- MISC-Phone Intake (Generic)
- MISC-SPANISH Intake Packets Documenting Your Expenses (Generic)
- MISC-SPANISH Intake Packets Golden Rules (Generic)
- MISC-SPANISH Intake Packets Workers Comp Info (Generic)
- Notice of rep
- Notice of Representation
- NOTICE OF REPRESENTATION
- PLEADS-Proof_of_Service-Notice_of_Representation
- Venue Authorization
The carrier answers the claim
They moved75 days
what happens
the clock starts
90 days — 75 for the presumptive injuries of LC 3212–3213.2from the date the claim form (DWC-1) is filed with the employer
LC 5402(b)
90 days ordinarily · 75 days as the exception. Ninety days is the ordinary period. Seventy-five applies ONLY to the presumptive injuries of LC 3212–3213.2 — the safety-member presumptions. The badge shows the shorter because it is the one that can be missed; the tasks describe the ninety because that is the usual case.
so somebody does26 tasks · due from the day the acceptance arrives
§1.3 · Claim Accepted
| Case manager | Read what was actually acceptedAn acceptance is rarely unqualified. Read which body parts are admitted and which are not, whether the acceptance is for medical treatment only, and whether any period is disputed. Enter only what the letter admits.datebody partsFull acceptance / medical only / period disputedAcceptance received {date}. Admitted: {body parts}. Not admitted: {body parts}. {Full acceptance / medical only / period disputed}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Close the ninety-day clockMark the presumption satisfied and record the date it closed. Keep the closed record; do not delete it.dateNinety-day presumption satisfied by acceptance dated {date}. Statute closed, record retained. | Same day |
| Paralegal | Confirm the benefit rateCheck the temporary disability rate on the notice against the average weekly wage the file already verified. A rate set from the carrier’s wage figure rather than the true earnings is the most common and most quietly costly error in an accepted claim.amountAgrees / disputed — objection sentTD rate on the notice: {amount}. Rate from the file’s verified AWW: {amount}. {Agrees / disputed — objection sent}. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Diary the first paymentSet the fourteen-day check for the first payment, and a recurring fourteen-day diary after it. Confirm the client received it and knows what it is.dateFirst TD payment due {date}. Diary set. Client told what to expect and when. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Tell the client what acceptance meansWrite to the client: the claim is accepted, what that does and does not mean, what benefits should now start, and what to do if a payment does not arrive. Acceptance is the moment a client is most likely to think the case is over.dateClient written to {date} explaining the acceptance and the benefits that follow. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Confirm treatment is being authorizedAn accepted claim should mean authorized treatment. Confirm the treating physician can get requests approved and that the MPN, if one applies, has a doctor the client can actually see.providerdateapplies / does notTreatment authorization confirmed with {provider} on {date}. MPN {applies / does not}. | 5 days |
| Attorney | Set the file’s next postureWith liability admitted, the case turns on permanent disability and future medical care. Decide whether to file the Application now, whether a panel is needed, and when the client should be evaluated.file Application / holdrequested / not yetdatePosture after acceptance: {file Application / hold}. Panel {requested / not yet}. Next review {date}. | 5 days |
§1.4 · Claim Denied
| Case manager | Tell the attorney, the day it arrivesA denial is one of the few documents that is never filed silently. The attorney is told the day it lands, before anything else is done with it, because the decisions that follow are theirs and some of them are time-sensitive.dateDenial dated {date} received {date}. Attorney notified {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Read the denial against the ninety daysCompare the date on the denial with the date the claim form went to the employer. Record which side of the ninety days it falls on and put the comparison on the file. This is arithmetic, not judgement — what the firm does about it is the attorney’s call.dateNattached / did not attachClaim form filed {date}; denial dated {date}; {N} days. Presumption {attached / did not attach} — for the attorney. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record what was denied, and on what groundA denial is rarely total. Record it per body part and per benefit: what is rejected, what is still admitted, and the ground the carrier gives — AOE/COE, no employment, late notice, post-termination, statute. The ground is what the later case answers, and it should be legible from the file without re-reading the letter.body parts / benefitsgroundanythingDenied: {body parts / benefits}. Ground stated: {ground}. Still admitted: {anything}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Check the letter is a proper noticeA benefit notice has to say what it decides, why, and what the worker can do about it. Note anything missing — no date, no ground, no appeal language, no claim number, the wrong worker. Do not argue with it; record the defect so the attorney can decide whether it matters.list, or noneNotice defects noted: {list, or none}. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Tell the client, plainlyThe client is told what the letter says and what happens next, in plain language. Not an opinion on the merits, not a prediction — the fact of the denial and that the firm is handling it. This call is the one the client will remember.datecall / letterClient advised of the denial {date}, by {call / letter}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | File the Application for AdjudicationA denied claim is a disputed claim, and the dispute is decided at the Board. The Application commences proceedings and satisfies the one-year statute. The firm’s practice on when to file it is the attorney’s to set — this page records that it must be filed, not when.datenumberApplication filed {date}, ADJ {number}. | The attorney sets it |
| Case manager | Get the treatment movingA denial does not stop treatment; it stops the carrier paying for it under the claim. Confirm what the client is receiving and where, and put lien letters out to the providers who are treating. Record which providers are on notice.providersdateLien letters sent to {providers} {date}. | 5 days |
| Attorney | Start the proofThe denial names a ground; the ground names what has to be proved. Records, a panel request, the employer’s own documents — the shape depends on the ground and it is the attorney’s to direct. What the file must show is that it was directed, and when.datewhat was directedProof plan noted {date}: {what was directed}. | The attorney sets it |
§1.5 · Claim Delayed
| Case manager | File it as a delayBehind Tab 1, named as a delay. The distinction from a denial is the whole point of this page: a denial is a decision the firm answers, a delay is an absence of one the firm waits out. Filing it under the wrong word turns the second into the first.dateDelay notice dated {date} received {date}. No decision made; the claim remains undecided. | Same day |
| Case manager | Clip the date the letter promisesRead the date the carrier gives itself and clip a follow-up on it. If the letter gives no date, say so on the file and set one — a delay with no end named by anybody is the one that runs longest.dateOr: no date stated — follow-up set at {dateDelay promises a decision by {date}; follow-up clipped. {Or: no date stated — follow-up set at {date}.} | Same day |
| Case manager | Check the ninety days against itWork out how much of the ninety days is left from the claim form. The delay does not extend it. If the promised decision falls after the ninety days expire, that is worth the attorney knowing now rather than then.dateNinside / outsideClaim form filed {date}; {N} days of the ninety remain as at {date}. Promised decision {date} falls {inside / outside} the period. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record what the carrier says it is waiting onA delay letter names what it lacks — a recorded statement, records, an investigation, a panel. Record it, because it is the list the firm can shorten. A delay waiting on something the firm can send is a delay the firm can end.whatItems the firm can supply: …Carrier is waiting on: {what}. {Items the firm can supply: …} | 1 day |
| Case manager | Send what we can sendWhere the carrier is waiting on something the firm holds — an authorisation, a report, a wage record — send it and record that it went. Where it is waiting on the client, arrange it. This is the one task on this page that changes the outcome rather than watching it.Whatdatewhat remains{What} sent to the carrier {date}. Outstanding: {what remains}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Tell the client what a delay isClients read a delay as a refusal. Tell them plainly that no decision has been made, what the carrier says it is waiting for, and that the firm is handling it. Nothing about the merits and nothing about what the case is worth.dateClient advised of the delay {date}. Explained no decision has been made. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Watch the promised dateWhen the date passes with nothing, that silence is the event. Tell the attorney and record that the promised date came and went — a carrier that delays past its own date and past the ninety days has made a decision by not making one.datePromised decision date {date} passed with no determination. Attorney told {date}. | The date the letter names |
| Attorney | On the ninetieth day with no decision, escalate to the attorneyNot the case manager. The manual says so in terms — a task at ninety days, set to the attorney — because a substantive right coming into existence is not a diary note. The task fires on the DATE, not on a letter arriving: the whole point is that nothing arrived. Where the injury is one of the presumptive ones under LC 3212–3213.2 the period was seventy-five days and this fired a fortnight ago; whether it is one of them is the attorney’s call, not the clerk’s.datedateNinety days ran {date} from the claim form filed {date}. No acceptance, denial or determination received. Escalated to the attorney {date}. {Ordinary 90 / presumptive 75 per LC 3212–3213.2}. | The ninetieth day |
| Case manager | Say on the file that the presumption attached, and on what datesA right that exists and is written nowhere is indistinguishable from one that does not. The file states the arithmetic — the filing date, the ninetieth day, and that nothing was received — and states no conclusion about what follows. The determination is the attorney’s and the Board’s; the record is the firm’s.datedateClaim form filed {date}; ninety days ran {date}; nothing received. Recorded {date}. No determination made by the firm. | Same day |
| Case manager | Stop the file treating liability as openDiaries, letters and clips written while the claim was undecided assume it still is. Review what is outstanding and what the client was last told — a client told the claim is 'pending’ after the period has run is being told something the file no longer supports. What changes is the firm’s own paper, not a position taken against the carrier.NdateFile reviewed {date}: {N} clips and letters written on an undecided claim, {updated / left with a reason}. Client last told {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Hold the position if a decision arrives lateA late acceptance does not undo a presumption that has already attached, and neither does a late denial — the manual says both. So a letter arriving on day ninety-five is filed, its date recorded against the ninetieth day, and the attorney told. What the file must not do is quietly re-date the statute record to the letter and let the earlier fact disappear.datedateNDecision dated {date} received {date}, {N} days after the period ran. Filed and compared to the ninetieth day {date}. Attorney told {date}. | Same day it arrives |
producing
1 template in the library serve this
- Workers Compensation Claim Form
and then
one yearfrom the date of injury, the end of the last indemnity period, or the last medical furnished — whichever is latest
a denial makes the one-year statute the live deadline
A letter arrives from the other side
They movedthe day it arrives
what happens
A letter is not an objection because it disagrees, and it IS an objection when it says so however politely. Which it is decides whether a statutory clock has started, and that reading belongs to the attorney — the file records what the letter says and the date it was served, not a conclusion about it.
Most defence mail says something and starts nothing. Some of it carries a period on its face or triggers one by what it asks for, and the two are indistinguishable in the envelope — a demand to settle and an MPN notice arrive on the same letterhead in the same week. Reading it is the work.
so somebody does6 tasks · due from the day the letter arrives
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Date-stamp it and record how it arrivedMail, fax, e-mail, e-service or a portal. How it arrived can decide a period — five days for mail, none for personal service — and it is read off the envelope or the header, not assumed.whodatemail / fax / e-mail / e-serviceLetter from {who} dated {date}, received {date} by {mail / fax / e-mail / e-service}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Read what it actually asks forNot what it is headed. A letter titled a status enquiry can contain an objection, and a letter titled an objection can ask for nothing at all. What it ASKS decides where it goes.objection / demand / discovery / notice / nothing askedReads as: {objection / demand / discovery / notice / nothing asked}. | Same day |
| Case manager | If it names a date, clip it and say where the date came fromA date on a letter is not a statutory period, and the file must not make it look like one. Clip it, and record that it came from the letter rather than from a statute.dateClipped {date}, from the letter itself. Not a statutory period. | Same day |
| Case manager | Route it to the chain it belongs toAn objection to a treating report goes to that chain; a records demand to the subpoena chain; an offer to settlement. Correspondence is what is left after those questions, not the first place a letter is put.chainreasonRouted to {chain} because {reason}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the same day if it names a periodWhether the letter IS an objection, and whether a statutory clock has started, is the attorney’s reading. The file records what the letter says and when it was served, and states no view about it.dateperiod / no periodAttorney told {date}: letter names {period / no period}. | Same day |
| Attorney | Read whether it is an objection, and say so on the fileWhether a letter IS an objection decides whether a statutory clock has started. Politeness is not the test and the heading is not the test. The answer goes on the file in one word, because everything downstream reads it rather than re-reading the letter.an objection / not an objectiondatestarted {dateRead as {an objection / not an objection} {date}. Clock {started {date} / not started}. | Same day |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
The treating doctor decides something
They moved20 days
what happens
A report that changes what the worker gets — P&S, work status, a treatment the carrier will refusePR2 · tab 5 / tab 7
also filed on this chainPR3 tab 5/7PR4 tab 5/7DFR tab 5
the clock starts
20 days if represented, 30 if notfrom receipt of the report
LC 4062(a)
20 days represented ordinarily · 30 days unrepresented as the exception. Twenty days where the employee is represented, thirty where they are not. The badge shows twenty because a represented file is this firm’s ordinary case and the shorter period.
TWENTY days, not thirty. The thirty-day figure everyone carries is the QME report window under 8 CCR 31.5(a) — a different document by a doctor who may be the same person. The form number decides it: a PR-4 is med-legal, a PR-2 is not.
so somebody does9 tasks · due from the day the report is received
§5.1 · Treating Physician Reports
| Case manager | File it, quietlyBehind Tab 5, named for the provider and its own date. Most treating reports need nothing else, and adding a notification to each of them is how the ones that matter get missed.Report typeproviderdate{Report type} from {provider} dated {date}, filed. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Read whether it decides anythingPermanent and stationary, a change in work status, a new body part, a treatment the carrier is likely to refuse. Any of those and the attorney is told; none of them and it is filed and left.is / is notwhat it decidesReport {is / is not} a determination: {what it decides}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Where it decides something, tell the attorney and clip twenty daysWith the objection window computed from receipt. Twenty days on a represented case.dateDetermination told to the attorney {date}; objection window to {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record new body partsA body part treated but never pleaded is a gap in the Application, and this is where it first becomes visible.partdatePleaded / not pleadedNew body part {part} appears in treatment {date}. {Pleaded / not pleaded}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Keep the treatment picture currentWho is treating, for what, and how recently. It is the answer to the question the client asks most often and the one the attorney needs before any conference.providersdateTreating: {providers}, most recent {date}. | Ongoing |
§5.2 · Doctor’s First Report
| Case manager | File it and record what it says about the injuryThe mechanism described, the body parts, the doctor’s view on whether it arose at work. This is the earliest medical account and everything later is compared with it.providerdatemechanismbody partsstated viewFirst report by {provider} dated {date}: {mechanism}, {body parts}, causation {stated view}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Compare it with the claimAgainst the Application and the intake account. Where the body parts or the mechanism differ, that is a fact the attorney needs before the defence finds it.consistent with / differs fromdetailFirst report {consistent with / differs from} the claim: {detail}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Record any body part not pleadedA part appearing here but not in the Application is a gap, and this is the earliest point it can be seen.list, or noneBody parts in the first report not pleaded: {list, or none}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Record the work status it givesOff work, modified, full duty — with the date. It is often the start of the temporary disability question.datestatusWork status from {date}: {status}. | 2 days |
producing
Objection to a Treating Physician’s Determinationsigned by attorneygoes to defence, servedstarts the panel process — the request for a panel follows the objection
13 templates in the library serve this
- 4600 LETTER - DENIED CASES
- 4600 Letter MPN + Request for Auth
- 4600 Letter MPN RFA POS
- 4600 Letter MPN+ Request for Autho
- 4600 Letter Stp
- 4600 Ltr MPN+RFA
- 4600 Ltr MPN+RFA
- 4600 Ltr MPN+RFA+POS
- CLIENT-Client Letter Re MPN (Generic)
- DEFENSE-MPN List 15 Days (Generic)
- Request for Authorization (RFA)
- DWC Form RFA
- Objection to Treating Physician’s Recommendation for Spinal Surgery
The library cannot produce this- Objection to reporting, reserving the right to cross-examine
and then
a represented objection proceeds to a panel under LC 4062.2
Treatment is refused
They moved10 days
what happens
A utilization review decision refusing a treatmentUR-DENIAL · tab 8
also filed on this chainUR-APPROVAL tab 8UR-MOD tab 8RFA tab 5IMR-APP tab 9
the clock starts
30 days — 10 for a formulary disputefrom service of the UR decision on the employee
LC 4610.5(f), (h)(1)–(3); 8 CCR 9792.10.1
30 days ordinarily · 10 days for a formulary dispute as the exception. Thirty days is the ordinary period. Ten applies to a formulary dispute only. The badge shows ten because it is the shorter and the one missed.
does not run when the descriptor is a Deferral or a Delay — they decide no medical necessity, so nothing attaches
15 days — 12 if the notice was sent electronically, 10 for a formulary drug, 24 HOURS on an expedited reviewSupporting records after a Notice of Assignment — from the NOA8 CCR 9792.10.5
so somebody does10 tasks · due from the day the decision was SERVED on the employee
§8.1 · UR Denial or Modification
| Case manager | Read the descriptor firstDenial, modification, deferral, delay or approval — before anything else, because it decides whether there is a clock at all. Write which it is on the file in that word. Everything downstream reads it rather than re-reading the letter.datedenial / modification / deferral / delay / approvalClock runs / no clockUR decision dated {date}: {denial / modification / deferral / delay / approval}. {Clock runs / no clock}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Find the service dateThe clock runs from service on the employee. Take it off the document — the proof of service, the cover, the fax header if that is all there is — and record which one was used. Where the document does not say, that is a question, not an assumption.datewhereService date {date}, taken from {where}. IMR window closes {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyEvery denial and every modification, the day it arrives. Not because the attorney does the appeal, but because a denied treatment is a fact about the case they need before somebody asks them about it.dateAttorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Check the letter carries what IMR needsThe treatment at issue, the determination, the dates, and the firm’s current address. A stale address is corrected on the document. A letter missing what IMR requires stops the packet — say so rather than sending an incomplete one.dateComplete / missing: …current / correctedLetter checked {date}. {Complete / missing: …}. Address {current / corrected}. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Build the packetOne PDF, in this order: the served Application for IMR completed and signed; the UR letter; the client’s authorization and representative designation; the demographics sheet on a first denial only; then the supporting reports. One attachment, never several — that is the review organization’s submission requirement, not a preference.dateNcomponentsIMR packet assembled {date}: {N} pages, {components}. | 3 days |
| Attorney | A person approves the sendThe packet is sent under a person’s approval. The signature on the application is the client’s or the representative’s, and who signs is settled before the packet is built, not after.whodatePacket approved by {who} {date}. | Before it goes |
| Case manager | Send it and file the copyTo the Administrative Director with a copy of the decision attached, and a copy to the claims administrator. The sent packet is filed at Tab 9 beside the denial it answers.dateIMR application sent {date} to the AD; copy to the administrator. Filed Tab 9. | Same day as approval |
| Case manager | Watch for the assignmentWhat comes back lands on Tab 9. The Notice of Assignment opens a short window for supporting records; a Request for Information carries its own date; the determination is routed, never re-appealed here.received {datedateNOA {received {date} / not received as at {date}}. | 15 days |
| Case manager | Clip the IMR window to a personThirty days from service on the employee, or TEN where the dispute is over the formulary — and which it is comes off the denial, not from habit. The closing date is computed on the task above; this one puts it in the diary with a name against it, because a date in a memo is a date nobody owns.datewhoIMR window {30 / 10} days from {date}, closes {date}. Assigned to {who}. | Same day |
| Case manager | File the denial or modification under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 8. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
producing
IMR Application Packetsigned by client or representativegoes to the Administrative Director, copy to the claims administratorstarts assignment by the review organization, then the supporting-records window
9 templates in the library serve this
- DWC Form IBR-1
- Utilization Review (UR) Complaint Form
- Application for Independent Medical Review
- AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE DESIGNATION FOR INDEPENDENT MEDICAL REVIEW
- Petition Appealing Administrative Director’s Independent Medical Review Determination
- REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT MEDICAL REVIEW
- Complaint Form
- Application for Spinal Surgery 2nd Opinion Physician List
- Request for Dispute Resolution Before the Administrative Director
and then
15 days — 12 if the notice was sent electronically, 10 for a formulary drug, 24 HOURS on an expedited reviewfrom the NOA
what comes back opens the shortest window on the case
The carrier defers the review
They moved
what happens
A UR decision whose descriptor is Deferral or DelayUR-DENIAL · tab 8
also filed on this chainIMR-NOA tab 9IMR-RFI tab 9IMR-DET tab 9
the clock starts
no clockfrom —
LC 4610(l), (m)
Not verified against the standardLC 4610.6(h) — the thirty days to seek review of an IMR determination at the Board — is not in AAI-STD 1, so it has not been through the standard’s verification against primary text. It is NOT the same section as the appeal to IMR (LC 4610.5(h)(1)); both are thirty days about the same treatment, which is exactly why the section number is worth confirming before anyone relies on it.
This is the one that produces a confident wrong deadline. A deferral or delay looks like a denial and is not: nothing attaches and no appeal window runs. Clipping it as a denial creates a real, cited, diarised deadline for an appeal that does not exist.
so somebody does8 tasks · due from the day each document arrives
§9.1 · What Comes Back from IMR
| Case manager | File each for what it isAssignment, request, determination. They arrive from the same sender about the same dispute and they are not interchangeable — one opens a window, one asks a question, one ends the matter.Documentdate{Document} dated {date} received {date}, filed Tab 9 beside the application. | Same day |
| Case manager | On the assignment: clip the right windowRead whether the notice went electronically, whether this is a formulary dispute, whether the review is expedited. Then clip fifteen, twelve, ten days or twenty-four hours accordingly, and write on the file which branch was used.dateelectronic / formulary / expedited / ordinaryNOA dated {date}; {electronic / formulary / expedited / ordinary}; supporting records due {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | On the assignment: send what supports itThe reports that support the treatment — the same ones that went in the packet, plus anything since. The window is the employee’s and the administrator’s alike; nothing waits for their submission.datewhatSupporting records sent {date}: {what}. | Within the window |
| Case manager | On a request for information: answer it by its own dateRead what is being asked, get it, and send it. An unanswered request is decided without the answer.datewhatRFI dated {date} asking {what}; answered {date}. | The date it states |
| Case manager | On a determination: read the outcome per line itemOverturned, upheld, or partial — and a partial is per treatment, not per letter. Record the outcome for each item requested, because a determination that overturns one thing and upholds another is two results in one envelope.dateitemoverturned / upheldDetermination dated {date}: {item} {overturned / upheld} · {item} {overturned / upheld}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Route itAn overturn goes to the attorney — the treatment is authorised and someone has to make it happen. An uphold goes to the case manager, unless the treatment was surgery, homecare or a device, in which case it goes to the attorney too. The stakes decide the routing, not the outcome alone.attorney / case manageroverturn / uphold on {surgery|homecare|deviceRouted to {attorney / case manager} because {overturn / uphold on {surgery|homecare|device} / uphold}. | Same day |
| Case manager | On an overturn: get the treatment movingAn overturned denial means the treatment is authorised. Tell the treating physician and the client, and record that it went — an authorisation nobody acts on is the same as a denial to the person waiting for it.providerdateOverturn communicated to {provider} and client {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | On an uphold: put the appeal question to the attorneyThe determination is not re-appealed to IMR. The only route is review at the Board within thirty days on narrow grounds. Give the attorney the date and the document; whether any ground exists is theirs.dateUphold dated {date}; window to {date} per LC 4610.6(h). For the attorney. | 2 days |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
and then
no IMR clock attaches — a deferral decides no medical necessity
A panel is assigned
They moved10 days
what happens
The administrative director assigns three evaluatorsQME · tab 7 / tab 6
the clock starts
10 days, +5 when served by mailfrom assignment of the panel by the administrative director
LC 4062.2(c)
10 days ordinarily · 15 when the panel was served by mail as the exception. Ten days from assignment, plus five when the panel was served by mail. The badge shows ten; how it was served is read off the document, not assumed.
10 BUSINESS daysScheduling the QME after the strike — from the date the evaluator is selected from the panel8 CCR 31.3(d)
so somebody does10 tasks · due from the day the panel is assigned
§6.1 · The QME Panel and the Strike
| Case manager | Record how the panel arrivedBy mail or otherwise, and on what date the administrative director assigned it. Both go on the file before the strike date is computed, because both are inputs to it. This is the one task on the page that is pure clerical work and changes a deadline by five days.datemail / otherPanel assigned {date}, received {date}, served by {mail / other}. Strike due {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the day it landsThe strike is the attorney’s choice and the window is ten days. Nothing about a panel waits.namesdatePanel of {names} told to attorney {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Put the three evaluators in front of the attorneyNames, specialties, locations. Whatever the firm knows about each. The choice is the attorney’s and it is made once — the file’s job is to make it an informed one rather than a hurried one.datePanel detail assembled {date}. | 1 day |
| Attorney | Serve the strikeA served letter is the practice; no rule prescribes a form. Serve it and file the proof — a strike nobody can prove was served is a strike that may not have happened.datepartiesnameStrike served {date} on {parties}; POS filed. Evaluator remaining: {name}. | Within the window |
| Case manager | Schedule within ten business daysBusiness days. If the firm does not schedule, the claims administrator may — and then the appointment is theirs to arrange rather than ours.evaluatordateAppointment with {evaluator} set for {date}, arranged {date}. | 10 business days from selection |
| Case manager | Calendar the appointment with an assigneeThe appointment is a calendar entry and it must belong to a person. An event with no assignee is owned by nobody and appears on nobody’s calendar.datewhoAppointment {date} calendared to {who}. | On scheduling |
| Case manager | Arrange the client’s side of itTell the client where and when, arrange an interpreter if one is needed, and transport if that is the firm’s practice. An evaluation the client cannot get to is an evaluation that has to be scheduled again.datearranged / not neededClient notified {date}; interpreter {arranged / not needed}; transport {arranged / not needed}. | 5 days before |
| Attorney | Serve the records twenty days aheadDecide when the records go to the evaluator, then work backwards. Serve the other side twenty days before that date and hold the records until it passes. Anything to an AME needs the parties’ agreement.partiesdateRecords served on {parties} {date}; earliest send to evaluator {date}. | 20 days before they go |
| Attorney | Read what they serve, within ten daysTheir proposed records arrive with a ten-day objection window, and an objection not made at the first opportunity is taken as agreement. Read them and put the question to the attorney with days still on the clock.dateobjected {dateTheir records served {date}; objection window to {date}; {objected {date} / no objection}. | 10 days from their service |
| Case manager | File the panel under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 6. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
producing
QME Panel Strikesigned by attorneygoes to defence, served
18 templates in the library serve this
- ADDITIONAL PANEL REQUEST
- Online QME Form 106 Panel Request (Online Only)
- Replacement Panel Request
- Request for QME Panel Under Labor Code §4062.2 - Represented (PAPER ONLY)
- Request for Qualified Medical Evaluator Panel - Unrepresented Employee
- Request for Factual Correction of an Unrepresented Panel QME Report
- CLIENT-QME Client
- CLIENT-SP QME Not
- CLIENT-AME Notification (Choose Specialty)
- DEFENSE-AME Confirmation Letter to Defendant (Generic)
- DEFENSE-AME Procedure Agreement Letter
- MED-ACOEM 1st Doctor Letter (Generic)
- MED-ACOEM AME On Case (Generic)
- MED-AME Letter Head (Generic)
- MED-AME Med Advocacy Letter
- MED-AME Med Short (Generic)
- MED-Fax Request For Medical Exam QME-AQME-AOE-COE-AME
- DEFENDANT-ACOEM Objection (Generic)
and then
10 BUSINESS daysfrom the date the evaluator is selected from the panel
ten business days to schedule, or the administrator may
No appointment can be had
We moved90 days
what happens
The evaluator has no appointment within ninety daysQME · tab 7 / tab 6
the clock starts
90 days — a party may waive to accept one within 120from the party’s request for an appointment
8 CCR 31.3(e)–(f), 31.5(a)(2) · Vazquez (WCAB en banc, 2025)
90 days ordinarily · 120 if a party waives to accept a later date as the exception. Ninety days from the request for an appointment. A party may waive to accept one within a hundred and twenty — a choice, not an extension, and one the attorney makes.
Waiting is a decision. At ninety days the firm may waive to accept a later date; past a hundred and twenty either party may report it. Whether to replace for good cause is the Board\u2019s call, weighed on delay, prejudice, efforts to cure and case-specific reasons — not automatic.
so somebody does5 tasks · due from the date the appointment was requested
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Record the date the appointment was requestedNinety days runs from the REQUEST, not from the panel or the strike. It is the one date this chain turns on and the one most easily lost, because nothing arrives to mark it.dateevaluatorAppointment requested {date} from {evaluator}. Ninety days to {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Diary the ninety and the hundred and twentyTwo dates, not one. At ninety the firm may waive to accept a later appointment; past a hundred and twenty either party may report it. Both go on the file when the request goes out.dateNinety days to {date}; hundred and twenty to {date}. Both diarised. | Same day |
| Case manager | Put the choice to the attorney at ninety daysWaiting is a decision and it is the attorney’s. Accept a later date, or seek a replacement panel — and whether a replacement is granted is the Board’s, weighed on delay and prejudice, not automatic.datewaive / replacement panel / waitChoice put to the attorney {date}: {waive / replacement panel / wait}. | 90 days |
| Attorney | Decide: wait, waive, or seek a replacement panelThree choices and no default. Waiting is one of them and is recorded as a decision, not left as what happened because nobody chose.wait / waive to a later date / replacement paneldateAt ninety days: {wait / waive to a later date / replacement panel} {date}. | Within the ninety days |
| Case manager | Report it past a hundred and twenty if the attorney directsReporting is a step, not an outcome. It records that the appointment could not be had; what follows is the Board’s.datewhoUnavailability reported {date} to {who}. | On the attorney’s direction |
producing
2 templates in the library serve this
- Appointment Notification Form
- QME Notice of Unavailability
and then
a replacement panel issues on request unless both sides waive in writing
Records go to the evaluator
Either side20 days BEFORE BEFORE
what happens
either side proposes records for the evaluatorMEDREC · tab 5 / tab 13
the clock starts
20 days BEFORE — the only clock that counts backwardsfrom the date the firm proposes to send them
LC 4062.3(a)–(g); 8 CCR 35(d) · Maxham (en banc, 2017); Suon (en banc, 2018)
Counts BACKWARDS. Nothing reaches the evaluator until the twenty days have run from service on every other party.
Serve the proposed records. The other side has TEN days to object to anything in them; that period runs inside ours. Nothing reaches the evaluator until the TWENTY days are up — the objection window closing early does not release the records.
Decided en banc“Information” served on an evaluator is not only records — it is anything communicated to them. A letter to the evaluator is information and is served on every other party the same way the records are.Maxham v. CDCR (WCAB en banc, 2017)
A dispute about what may go to the evaluator is for the Appeals Board. Neither side resolves it by agreeing between themselves or by sending the disputed material anyway.Suon v. California Dairies (WCAB en banc, 2018)
so somebody does7 tasks · due from the date the firm proposes to send the records
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Fix the send date and count backwards from itThis clock runs BACKWARDS. The service date is twenty days before the records may go, so the send date is chosen first and the service date is computed from it — not the other way round.dateRecords to go {date}; served on all parties by {date}, twenty days before. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Paralegal | Assemble exactly what is proposedFrom tabs 5, 7 and 13. Anything added after service must be served again and restarts the twenty days, so the set is settled before it goes out.datelistNProposed records assembled {date}: {list}, {N} pages. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Serve every other party and file the proofEvery party, not only the defence. The proof of service carries the date the twenty days run from, which makes it the most consequential document on this chain.datepartiesProposed records served {date} on {parties}; POS filed. | Same day as assembly |
| Case manager | Read what they serve, within ten daysTheir ten days to object runs inside our twenty. An objection to what they propose is ours to make in the same window, and it is the attorney’s call.dateTheir proposed records received {date}; objection window to {date}. Attorney told. | 10 days from their service |
| Case manager | File what they propose at tab 6Their proposed records are a med-legal SCHEDULING document, not records the firm holds — tab 6, not tab 5. The standard names this as the one case that is expressly not a question for a person to decide: it is filed to tab 6, the ten days are clipped, and the attorney is told. All three, or the ten days run against a document nobody can find.datetabTheir proposed records served {date}, filed tab 6. Ten days close {date}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | Decide whether to object to what they proposeTheir ten days runs inside our twenty. An objection to what the other side proposes to send is made in that window or not at all, and a dispute about what may go to the evaluator is for the Board rather than the parties.objected to / accepteddate…Their proposed records {objected to / accepted} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Within their ten days |
| Case manager | Send nothing before the twenty days are upThe objection window closing early does not release the records. The evaluator receives ONE document, and it goes on the date computed at the start, not sooner.dateRecords sent to the evaluator {date}. Twenty days ran from {date}. | On the send date |
producing
Records Set for the Evaluatorsigned by attorneygoes to the evaluator, served on every party twenty days beforestarts the other side’s 10 days to object; nothing goes to the evaluator before the 20 days run
3 templates in the library serve this
- AME or QME Declaration of Service of Medical - Legal Report [Lab. Code §4062.3(i)]
- QME Declaration of Service
- Declaration Regarding Protection of Mental Health Record
The library cannot produce these- Letter to the panel QME
- Letter to the QME
The evaluator reports
They moved30 days
what happens
also filed on this chainAME tab 7/6
the clock starts
30 days, +15 for good causefrom the examination, or when the evaluation procedure began
LC 139.2(j)(1), 4062.5 · Vazquez (WCAB en banc, 2025)
30 days ordinarily · 45 with good cause as the exception. Thirty days, extendable by fifteen for good cause. The extension is not automatic and is not assumed; the badge shows the period as it stands.
so somebody does10 tasks · due from the day the report is served
§7.1 · The Med-Legal Report
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyAlways, without a condition. This is the report the case is valued from and the attorney reads it themselves — the file does not summarise it for them.evaluatordateReport by {evaluator} dated {date}, exam {date}, served {date}. Attorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record the three datesExamination, report, service. Each is a different clock: the exam date is what the thirty days ran from, the report date is what it produced, the service date is what any objection runs from. A file that holds one of them holds none of the answers.dateNExam {date}; report {date}; served {date}. Report was {N} days after the exam. | Same day |
| Case manager | Check whether the report was lateThirty days from the exam, plus fifteen if good cause was claimed. Work out the gap and put it on the file. A late report is a statutory ground to replace the evaluator — whether the firm wants that is entirely the attorney’s question.NWithin / beyondExam to report: {N} days. {Within / beyond} the period. For the attorney. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Record the findings, not the ratingWhole-person impairment per body part, apportionment per body part, the maximum-medical-improvement status and date, work restrictions, and the page each was found on. What the report concludes about a percentage is recorded as what the report says — never adopted as the file’s own figure.reportparts and WPI…status / dateFindings recorded from {report}: {parts and WPI}, apportionment {…}, MMI {status/date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Flag what the report does not coverCompare the body parts evaluated against the body parts pleaded and the body parts treated. A part that was treated but not evaluated, or pleaded but not addressed, is a gap — and it is far cheaper to notice now than after the conference.partsEvaluated: {parts}. Pleaded but not addressed: {parts}. Treated but not evaluated: {parts}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Put the objection question to the attorneyWhether to object, ask for a supplemental, or accept it. There is no statutory clock, which is precisely why it needs a date — an open question with no deadline is the one that reaches the conference unanswered.dateObjection question put to the attorney {date}; their date {date}. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Clip whatever they decide against the conferenceA supplemental request, a deposition of the evaluator, further records — each gets a date that falls before the conference, not on it. The conference is the wall; everything is scheduled to land before it.Whatdate{What} clipped for {date}, ahead of the conference on {date}. | On the attorney’s decision |
| Case manager | Tell the client where the case standsThe report has been received and the attorney is reviewing it. Not what it says about their percentage, not what the case is now worth — those are the attorney’s to discuss and premature from anyone else.dateClient advised the report was received {date}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | File the report under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 7. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | Decide whether to object, and record it either wayWhether the report is objectionable, and on what. A decision not to object is recorded — the report stands as evidence either way, and the file must show that was a choice.datemade / not made…Objection to the {date} report {made / not made} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Within the thirty days |
producing
17 templates in the library serve this
- Request for Consultative Rating
- Request for Consultative Rating - San Bernardino WC-1284
- Request for Consultative Rating [RCR]
- Request for Summary Rating Determination
- Request for Summary Rating Determination - of AME\
- Request for Summary Rating Determination - Primary Treating Physician Report
- Request for Summary Rating Determination of Primary Treating Physician Report
- Request for Summary Rating Determination of Qualified Medical Evaluator’s Report
- Request for Summary Rating Determination of Qualified or Agreed Medical Examiner’s Report
- MED-AME Request Supp for Denied Treatment (Generic)
- Physician’s PR4 - PTP P & S Report
- QME/AME Report Time Frame Extension Request
- Request for Informal Rating by Insurance Carrier or Self-insurer
- Apportionment
- Request for Reconsideration of Summary Rating by the Administrative Director
- Request for Reconsideration of Summary Rating by the Administrative Director
- CLIENT-Forwarding Med Legal Report
and then
the conference datefrom the mandatory settlement conference
anything wanted is ordered before the conference
The case opens at the Board
Fatal if late1 year
what happens
The attorney directs the filingAPP-ADJ · tab 2
also filed on this chainANSWER tab 2
the clock starts
one yearfrom the date of injury, the end of the last indemnity period, or the last medical furnished — whichever is latest
LC 5405
Already runningThis period did not start when this chain did. It has been running since the date of injury — before the case reached this page, and in most files before the firm was retained. What is left is what matters, and the answer is on the file, not on this page.
On a CUMULATIVE TRAUMA this phrase names two dates. The injury has a period start and a period end, and anything computed from the date of injury uses the END date. Both dates go on the file; neither is used silently.
no period — the responsible entity "must be divulged at the earliest opportunity, and certainly no later than the commencement of the litigation process and formal proceedings" (Coldiron I)Disclosure of the liable entity and the policy — from the commencement of the caseColdiron I & II (WCAB en banc, 2002) · DiFusco (WCAB en banc, 2025) · 8 CCR 10390, 10400, 10401 · CCP 2017.210
If this is lateFiled after the period, the claim is barred and no diligence afterwards recovers it. The period is not extended by the carrier’s delay in answering.
Not verified against the standardCCP 2017.210 is not in AAI-STD 1. It is quoted in DiFusco (WCAB en banc, 2025) as the discovery route to insurance information, and the disclosure duty itself rests on Coldiron I & II (WCAB en banc, 2002), which DiFusco Holding No. 3 reaffirms. Binding precedent, from a corpus the published standard does not carry.
THREE candidate dates, and the latest governs: the date of injury, the end of the last indemnity period, or the last medical treatment furnished. A file that looks a year stale under one of them may be current under another, and the usual error is computing from the date of injury alone because that is the date everybody knows.
Decided en bancPleadings are read for substance, not form. A technical defect in a filing is not a reason to treat it as a nullity — which matters most here, where the filing is what keeps the claim alive.Perez v. Chicago Dogs (WCAB en banc, 2025)
so somebody does12 tasks · due from the day the attorney directs it
§2.1 · Application for Adjudication
| Attorney | Confirm the case is ready to be filedWhether and when to file is the attorney’s decision, not a step that follows automatically from a denial. What this page records is that the decision is made deliberately and that the file shows who made it.dateAttorney directed the Application be filed {date}. | Before anything is drafted |
| Case manager | Check every field against a documentThe Application states the worker, the employer, the insurer, the date of injury, the body parts and the venue. Each is checked against a record rather than against the intake questionnaire — the questionnaire is the client’s account, and the Application is a pleading. A wrong employer or a wrong date of injury on a filed Application is corrected by amending it, which is a filing of its own.sourcesdateApplication fields verified against {sources} {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Draft itPrepare it on the Board’s own form. Body parts are pleaded as they are alleged, with laterality; the venue follows the rule for the case, not convenience.dateApplication drafted {date} for attorney review. | 3 days |
| Attorney | The attorney signs itA pleading is signed by the attorney. Nobody signs it on their behalf, and the file records who signed and when.attorneydateApplication signed by {attorney} {date}. | Same day as filing |
| Case manager | File it and serve itFiled with the Board, then served on every party with a proof of service. The proof of service is a sworn statement in the first person — it carries the name of whoever actually served it, never someone else’s.datepartiesApplication filed {date}; served on {parties} {date}; POS filed. | Same day as signing |
| Case manager | Close the statute clip against the filing dateThe reason this task exists as its own line is that it is the one most often missed. The Application is filed, the case moves on, and a satisfied one-year clock sits open on the file for years afterward looking like a live deadline.dateLC 5405 satisfied by the filing of {date}. Clock closed against that date. | Same day as filing |
| Case manager | Record the ADJ number everywhere it belongsThe Board returns a conformed copy with the ADJ number. That number is the case’s identity at the Board and it goes on the case record — not only inside the PDF, where nothing can search it.numberdateADJ {number} assigned; conformed copy filed {date}; case record updated. | On the conformed copy |
| Case manager | Watch for the answerA follow-up so that silence is noticed. There is no clock the firm holds against a defence that does not answer, but the fact of it belongs on the file.received {datedateAnswer {received {date} / not received as at {date}}. | 30 days |
§2.3 · The Answer
| Case manager | Close the answer follow-upA watch was set when the Application was filed. It has been answered; close it against the date rather than leaving it to expire.dateAnswer received {date}. Follow-up closed. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record what is put in issueInjury arising out of employment, the employment relationship, the body parts, apportionment, the statute of limitations, post-termination. What is denied is what has to be proved, and it should be legible from the file without re-reading the pleading.listDefences raised: {list}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney what is deniedNot the document — the list. An answer that denies employment is a different case from one that admits it and disputes apportionment.datesummary of what is in issueAttorney told {date}: {summary of what is in issue}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Check the parties against oursWhom the answer is filed for, and whether that matches the carrier and employer on the file. A discrepancy here is worth resolving before anything is served.partiesconsistent / discrepancy: …Answer filed for {parties}; {consistent / discrepancy: …}. | 2 days |
producing
Application for Adjudication of Claimsigned by attorneygoes to the Board, then served on every partystarts proceedings are commenced — the one-year statute is satisfied
6 templates in the library serve this
- Addendum to Application for Adjudication of Claim to Identify Legal Entity Employing Injured Worker
- Answer to Application for Adjudication of Claim
- Application For Adjudication of Claim
- Letter to WCAB_Amended App
- Special Notice of Lawsuit
- Answering Defendants Deny the Alligations of the Application
and then
filing SATISFIES the clock rather than starting one
Written discovery arrives
They movedby the date on the request
what happens
Interrogatories, requests for admission or requests for production, served by a partyDISCOVERY · tab 12
The response date comes from the request itself. Where the request names none, the attorney sets one rather than the file assuming a period — and a request that names an impossible date is answered by saying so, not by treating it as void.
The period is on the document, not in a statute. That is why it is easy to miss: a deposition notice announces itself and a set of interrogatories looks like more mail. The date the request carries is the date the file clips.
so somebody does7 tasks · due from the day the request is served
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Date-stamp it and record how it was servedHow it arrived can change what is left of the period, and a written discovery request is easy to mistake for ordinary mail.whodatemethodDiscovery request from {who}, dated {date}, served {date} by {method}. | Same day |
| Case manager | File the request under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 12. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Find the response date the request statesIt is printed on the request. This is the one period on the map that is in no statute, which is exactly why it must be read off the document rather than assumed from a rule.dateResponse date on the request: {date}. Source: the request itself. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the same day, with that dateWhether the request is answerable, objectionable or impossible on its own date is the attorney’s. The file records the date and who was told.dateAttorney told {date}; response date {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Clip the response date and say it came from the requestA clip that does not say where its date came from cannot be checked later. Where the request names no date, the attorney sets one and the file records that it was set rather than found.datefrom the request / set by the attorneyClipped {date}, {from the request / set by the attorney}. | Same day |
| Attorney | Decide what is answered and what is objected toWhich requests are answered, which are objected to, and on what ground. A request that names an impossible date is answered by saying so rather than treated as void.dateanswer / object…Response directed {date}: {answer / object} per request. Grounds: {…}. | Before the response date |
| Paralegal | Assemble what answering it needsWhat the request asks for, from the file. Where answering needs records the firm does not hold, that is a subpoena and a different chain.datewhatAssembled for the response {date}: {what}. Outstanding: {what}. | On the attorney’s direction |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
The library cannot produce these- Response to interrogatories
- Response to requests for admission
- Response to a request for production
- Objection to written discovery
A deposition is noticed
They movednot before 10 days
what happens
Notice that a party is to be deposedDEPO-NOTICE · tab 12
also filed on this chainDEPO-TX tab 12
the clock starts
the noticed date — at least 10 days after service, or 20 after issuance of the subpoena where consumer or employment records are subpoenaedfrom service of the notice
LC 5710(a)–(b); CCP 2025.270(a), (c)
A FLOOR. The noticed date must be at least ten days after service — twenty where consumer or employment records were subpoenaed for it. A notice giving less is answered, not accommodated.
A notice giving less than ten days is answered, not accommodated. Twenty if records were subpoenaed for it. And the applicant is OWED transportation, lost wages, one transcript, a fee and a certified interpreter — claimed as a matter of course, not when someone remembers.
so somebody does7 tasks · due from the day the notice is served
§12.1 · The Deposition Notice
| Case manager | Check the date is far enough outAt least ten days after service; twenty after issuance where records were subpoenaed for it. Work it out and record it — a short notice is answered, not accommodated.dateNSufficient / short — attorney toldNotice served {date} for {date}: {N} days. {Sufficient / short — attorney told}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyWhether to object, seek a different date, or accept it. And whether the attorney is available, which is not a detail.dateDeposition notice told to the attorney {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Calendar it with an assigneeIt is a date somebody has to attend. An event owned by nobody appears on nobody’s calendar.datewhoDeposition {date} calendared to {who}. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Arrange the clientTell them when and where, arrange an interpreter if one is needed, arrange transport. Confirm the day before — a deposition the client does not attend is rescheduled at cost.datearranged / not neededClient confirmed {date}; interpreter {arranged / not needed}; transport {arranged / not needed}. | 5 days before |
| Attorney | Prepare the clientThe attorney’s work, and the file records that it happened.attorneydateClient prepared by {attorney} {date}. | Before the date |
| Case manager | Claim what is owedTransportation, lost wages, meals and the interpreter are known on the day and are claimed now — waiting on the transcript to claim any of it is how a claim goes stale. The TRANSCRIPT cost is not known yet; it is claimed when the transcript arrives, and the file says which items are outstanding.datetransportation, wages, interpreter, mealsLC 5710 costs claimed {date}: {transportation, wages, interpreter, meals}. Transcript cost outstanding. | 5 days after |
| Case manager | File the transcript when it comesIt goes behind Tab 12 with its own date. And it carries the last LC 5710 item: the transcript cost, which could not be claimed when the rest was.dateTranscript received {date}, filed. Transcript cost claimed {date}. | On receipt |
producing
9 templates in the library serve this
- CLIENT-DEPO Notice (Generic)
- CLIENT-Errata Sheet (Generic)
- Compex Deposition Request
- LETTER TO DA - 5710 BILLING LETTER
- Notice of Representation w depo
- Notice of Representation w depo
- Notice of Representation w depo
- notice_of_representation w Depo
- Applicant’s Objection to Request For Production of Documents at Deposition
and then
the conference datefrom the mandatory settlement conference
a deposition wanted must be taken before the conference
Records are subpoenaed
We movednot before 20 days
what happens
The attorney directs a subpoena to a custodianSDT · tab 13
also filed on this chainSUBPOENA tab 13
the clock starts
no earlier than 20 days after issuance or 15 after service — WHICHEVER IS LATERfrom issuance and service of the subpoena
LC 130, 5710; CCP 2020.410(c); Evid. Code 1560(b)(2)
A FLOOR, not a deadline. Twenty days from ISSUANCE or fifteen from SERVICE, WHICHEVER IS LATER — so the governing date is the later of the two, and the badge shows the shorter branch only as a reminder that neither alone is the answer. Served sooner, the subpoena is defective rather than early.
10 daysObjecting to the other side’s nonmedical records — from service of their proposed records or informationLC 4062.3(b); 8 CCR 35(d) · Suon (2018)
Twenty days from ISSUANCE or fifteen from SERVICE — whichever is LATER. Using one of the two produces a date that is too early, which is a defective subpoena rather than an aggressive one.
so somebody does7 tasks · due from the day the subpoena is served
§13.1 · Subpoena for Records
| Paralegal | Confirm what is being sought and from whomThe custodian, the records, the date range. A subpoena that asks for everything from everybody returns a packet nobody can use and costs the same as a precise one.custodianrecordsdate rangeSDT to {custodian} for {records}, {date range}. | On direction |
| Paralegal | Compute the production date properlyTwenty days from issuance, fifteen from service, and take the later. Record both computations so the date on the document can be checked rather than trusted.datethe laterIssued {date} +20 = {date}; served {date} +15 = {date}. Production date {the later}. | On issuance |
| Paralegal | Serve it and file the proofOn the custodian and on every party. The proof of service is sworn in the first person by whoever served it.datecustodianpartiesSDT served {date} on {custodian} and {parties}; POS filed. | On issuance |
| Paralegal | Log it as outstandingA records request that nobody is tracking is a records request that arrives after the conference or not at all. The log is what makes chasing possible.dateAdded to the records log {date}; due {date}. | Same day |
| Paralegal | Follow up the day after production was dueNot a week later. A custodian that has not produced is either not going to or has not received it, and both are worth knowing early.dateresponseFollow-up {date}: {response}. | The day after |
| Paralegal | When the packet arrives, split itA subpoena return is several documents in one envelope — a cover letter, the custodian’s declaration, the subpoena, the records themselves. Each is filed as its own thing, because each is findable only under its own name.dateNcomponentsReturn received {date}: {N} pages, split into {components}. | 2 days |
| Paralegal | Check it is completeThe declaration signed, the pages continuous, the date range covered. Gaps in the numbering and an unsigned declaration are both worth raising before the records are relied on.signed / unsignedcontinuous / gaps at …covered / shortReturn checked: declaration {signed / unsigned}; pages {continuous / gaps at …}; range {covered / short}. | 2 days |
producing
Subpoena Duces Tecumsigned by attorneygoes to the custodian, served on every partystarts the custodian’s production
10 templates in the library serve this
- Description of Documents to Produce
- Pleading Objection to Order Quashing Subpoena duces tecum with POS
- Subpoena Duces Tecum
- Compex Applicant Attorney Request
- Compex Defense Attorney Request
- Platinum Copy
- Platinum Copy Request
- Response to MTQ
- Response to MTQ - Order
- DEFENSE-Letter to Atty Carrier Right to Our Own Discovery
The library cannot produce this- Subpoena — WCAB 30 (the legacy form)
and then
the conference datefrom the mandatory settlement conference
work back from the conference: twenty days to production, fifteen more for the custodian
Medical records come in
They moved20 days
what happens
Reports, records and provider paperMEDREC · tab 5 / tab 13
the clock starts
20 days if represented, 30 if notfrom receipt of the report
LC 4062(a)
20 days represented ordinarily · 30 days unrepresented as the exception. Twenty days where the employee is represented, thirty where they are not. The badge shows twenty because a represented file is this firm’s ordinary case and the shorter period.
Most treating reports need nothing. The judgement is spotting the one that changes what the worker gets — that one starts a twenty-day clock and belongs on the defensive chain.
so somebody does8 tasks · due from the day the report is received
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Date-stamp it on RECEIPT, not on its own dateThe twenty days run from receipt. A report dated three weeks before it arrives has not been sitting on a running clock, and a report that arrived before it was date-stamped has. Receipt is the date the period is computed from and it exists nowhere but on the stamp.dateprovidermethodReport of {date} from {provider} received {date} by {method}. | Same day |
| Case manager | File it behind the treating medicalTab 5 by default; tab 13 where it came back on a subpoena, because how it arrived is what a later reader needs to know about it.5 / 13dateFiled tab {5 / 13} under {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Read whether it DECIDES anythingMost reports continue treatment and need nothing. A report that changes work restrictions, states maximum medical improvement, apportions, or releases the worker DECIDES something — and that one starts twenty days to object. Spotting it is the whole job of this chain; the reading of what follows is the attorney’s.datecontinues treatment / decides {whatReport of {date}: {continues treatment / decides {what}}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Clip the twenty days where it decides somethingTwenty days from RECEIPT, not from the report’s own date, and only where the report decides something — most do not. A report that decides nothing is filed and needs no clip; clipping every report buries the one that matters.datewhoReport of {date} received {date}; objection window closes {date}. Assigned to {who}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the same day where it decides somethingWith the receipt date, because that is what the twenty days count from. The file records the date it went and no view on whether an objection lies.dateAttorney told {date}; report received {date}; twenty days to {date}. | Same day |
| Attorney | Decide whether to object, and record it either wayTwenty days from receipt where the worker is represented. A decision not to object is recorded with its date and its reason — the report stands as evidence either way, and the file must show that was a choice rather than a period that ran out.datemade / not made…Objection to the {date} report {made / not made} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Within the twenty days |
| Case manager | Record new body parts against what was pleadedA body part treated but never pleaded is a gap in the Application. This is where it first becomes visible, and it is visible nowhere else — the pleading is not re-read every time a report arrives.datelistwhatBody parts in the {date} report: {list}. Pleaded: {list}. Gap: {what}. | 2 days |
| Paralegal | Keep the running list a demand is built fromProviders, dates of service, findings. Assembling this at the point a demand is made means assembling it from a file nobody indexed, months later.dateTreatment list current to {date}. | On each report |
producing
4 templates in the library serve this
- Doctors First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness
- MED-Reporting Req. For All Med Services By The PTP
- QME Disclosure of Specified Financial Interests
- Treating Physician’s Report of Disability Status
Work is offered
They moved
what happens
the clock starts
depends on the DATE OF INJURYfrom the offer — the employer’s window is 60 days
LC 4658(d)(2)–(3); 4658.1(a)–(c); 4658.7(b)(1)–(2) · Dennis (WCAB en banc, 2020)
The same letter does two different things. Injuries 2005–2012: it moves permanent disability by ±15%. Injuries from 2013: it decides the SJDB voucher instead, and only an offer lasting at least twelve months counts. Read the date of injury before anything else.
so somebody does7 tasks · due from the day the offer arrives
§10.1 · Offer of Work and the Voucher
| Case manager | Check the date of injury firstBefore anything else, because it decides which statute the document is read under. The same offer is a fifteen per cent adjustment on one case and a voucher question on another.dateLC 4658(d) / LC 4658.7Offer dated {date}; DOI {date}; read under {LC 4658(d) / LC 4658.7}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyEvery offer of work, the day it arrives, whichever rule applies.dateAttorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record what is actually offeredRegular, modified or alternative; the duties, the wage, the hours, and — for a post-2013 injury — whether it is for at least twelve months. The twelve months is what decides the voucher and it is often not stated plainly.typedutieswagehoursN monthsOffered: {type}, {duties}, {wage}, {hours}, duration {N months}. | 1 day |
| Case manager | Compare it with the work restrictionsAgainst the restrictions in the most recent report. Where the offer exceeds them, that is a fact worth putting in front of the attorney rather than in front of the client.dateconsistent / exceeds in …Offer compared with restrictions of {date}: {consistent / exceeds in …}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | Tell the client and get their instructionsWhat is offered, what accepting or declining does. On a post-2013 injury that includes what happens to the voucher. This conversation is the attorney’s because the consequences are legal ones.date…Offer discussed with the client {date}; instructions {…}. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Record the response and its dateAccepted, declined, or no response — with the date. It is the fact everything afterwards turns on.accepted / declined / no responsedateOffer {accepted / declined / no response} {date}. | On the client’s decision |
| Case manager | File the offer letter under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 10. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
producing
16 templates in the library serve this
- DEFENSE-VRE Evaluation Notice to Carr Def (Generic)
- Medical and Vocational Statement
- Notice of Termination of Vocational Rehabilitation
- Notice of Termination of Vocational Rehabilitation Services
- Physician Return-to-Work and Voucher Report
- Request for Conclusion of Rehabilitation Benefits
- Vocational Rehabilitation Plan - 10122-13
- Voluntary Directive for Alternate Service of Medical - Legal Evaluation Report on Disputed Injury to Psyche [Unrepresented Employees Only]
- Notice of Offer of Modified or Alternative Work
- Notice of Offer of Regular Work
- Notice of Offer of Regular, Modified, Or Alternative Work for Injuries
- Petition to Terminate Liability for Temporary Disability Indemnity
- Request for Dispute Resolution - 10133-14
- Request for Dispute Resolution Before Admin Director (DWC-AD 10133.55)
- Supplemental Job Displacement Non-Transferable Voucher Form for Injuries Occurring on or After 1/1/13
- Supplemental Job Displacement Nontransferable Training Voucher
where it goes nextThe case endsthe voucher and return-to-work bear on value
and then
an offer defeats the voucher only if bona fide; inability to offer work does not excuse it
The case is set for hearing
Either side
what happens
Either side declares the case readyDOR · tab 3
also filed on this chainMSC tab 3MOH tab 3PTCS tab 3
the clock starts
the date on the noticefrom the notice
—
the conference dateDiscovery closes at the conference — from the mandatory settlement conferenceLC 5502(d)(3)
Decided en bancA decision rests on the admitted record. What was said at a conference is not evidence unless it was put in — so what the file can prove is what the file filed.Gaines v. ABM Aviation (WCAB en banc, 2026)
so somebody does18 tasks · due from the day the DOR is filed or received
§3.1 · Declaration of Readiness
| Case manager | Establish which side filed itEverything on this page turns on it. Ours means the firm chose this; theirs means the firm is answering. Record it on the file in words, not by inference from who signed.us / the defencedateDOR filed by {us / the defence}, dated {date}, received {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyA DOR moves a case whichever side files it. The attorney is told the day it arrives, because the decisions that follow — object, agree, or use the time — are theirs and the window on the first of them is short.dateAttorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | If it is theirs: put the objection window on the fileClip the twenty-five days from service and note the rule it comes from. Whether to object is the attorney’s call; having the date is the file’s job.dateObjection window to {date} per WCAB Rule 10417, from service {date}. For the attorney. | Same day |
| Attorney | If it is ours: confirm the case is actually readyA DOR says discovery is done. Filing one before it is done is how a case arrives at a conference without the report it needs — and the cutoff the conference brings is what makes that permanent. What is outstanding, and whether it matters, is the attorney’s judgement; the file records that the question was asked.dateitems, or noneAttorney confirmed readiness {date}. Outstanding at filing: {items, or none}. | Before filing |
| Case manager | List what is still outstandingRecords not returned, a report not received, a deposition not taken, a supplemental not answered. One list, on the file, before the conference date is known — because once it is known the list becomes a deadline.datelistOutstanding as at {date}: {list}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Watch for the notice of hearingThe follow-up. If nothing has come, that is worth raising rather than waiting further — a DOR that produced no date usually means something about the filing, not about the Board.received {datedateNotice of hearing {received {date} / not received as at {date}}. | 30 days |
| Case manager | When the date comes, clip the cutoffThe conference date is the discovery cutoff. Clip it, and clip against it everything the outstanding list still holds — each one dated before the conference, not on it.dateConference {date}; discovery closes that day. Outstanding items clipped against it. | On the notice of hearing |
§3.2 · Notice of Hearing
| Case manager | Tell the attorney and calendar itThe date, the type, the judge and the venue. Calendared as an event with an assignee — an appearance nobody is assigned to is an appearance nobody makes.Hearing typedatenamevenuewho{Hearing type} {date}, Judge {name}, {venue}. Calendared to {who}; attorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Work out what is still outstandingRecords not returned, reports not received, depositions not taken, objections not answered. Against the conference date, each becomes a date rather than an intention.datelistOutstanding as at {date}: {list}, all against the conference of {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Clip each outstanding item before the conferenceNot on the conference date — before it, with enough time for the thing to actually arrive. A subpoena issued a fortnight out will not produce records in time and the clip should say so.itemdateClipped: {item} for {date}; {item} for {date}. | 3 days |
| Attorney | PrepareThe attorney’s work. The file’s job is that it is scheduled rather than remembered.datePreparation task set for {date}. | A week before |
| Case manager | Confirm the client knowsWhether they need to attend, where, and when. And an interpreter if one is needed.daterequired / not requiredarranged / not neededClient told {date}; attendance {required / not required}; interpreter {arranged / not needed}. | 1 week before |
| Case manager | Record what happenedContinued, settled, tried, taken off calendar. The minutes arrive later and separately; this is the note that says what the file should expect.dateoutcomeHearing {date}: {outcome}. | After the hearing |
§3.3 · Conference Papers
| Case manager | Prepare the statement against the outstanding listIssues, exhibits, witnesses, stipulations. What is not listed may not be usable, so the statement is built from the outstanding list rather than from memory.datePTCS prepared {date} for the conference of {date}. | 1 week before |
| Attorney | The attorney settles the issuesWhat is in dispute and what is agreed. The statement is signed and it binds.attorneydateIssues settled by {attorney} {date}. | Before the conference |
| Case manager | File the minutes when they comeBoard-issued, under their own date. They are the record of what the conference decided and they are read rather than filed blind.datewhat was decidedMinutes of {date} received {date}: {what was decided}. | On receipt |
| Case manager | Act on what the minutes setA trial date, a further conference, an order to do something by a date. Each becomes a clip.whatdateFrom the minutes: {what}, clipped for {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | On a continuance, move every clipThe new conference date is the new cutoff and everything scheduled against the old one moves. Leaving a clip on a superseded date is how an item quietly stops being tracked.dateNConference continued from {date} to {date}; {N} clips moved. | Same day |
producing
Declaration of Readiness to Proceedsigned by attorneygoes to the Board, served on every partystarts a hearing is set by the Board; discovery closes at the MSC it sets
12 templates in the library serve this
- 10770.6 Verification of Filing of Declaration of Readiness By or on Behalf of Lien Claimant
- Declaration of Readiness To Proceed (DOR)
- Declaration of Readiness To Proceed To Expedited Hearing (DOR) (Trial)
- PLEADS-Order Denying Defendants DOR
- CLIENT-MSC Notice Generic
- CLIENT-Not Hearing Generic
- CLIENT-Notice of Expedited Hearing
- CLIENT-Trial Notice (Generic)
- DEFENSE-Trial Notice to Opposing
- Arbitration Submittal Form
- DEFENSE-MSC Not (Generic)
- Request to Serve Witness for Appearance at Trial
and then
the conference datefrom the mandatory settlement conference
the conference it sets is what closes discovery
The case ends
We moved
what happens
also filed on this chainSTIP tab 14
the clock starts
—from the filing
8 CCR 10700(a) · Gaines v. ABM Aviation (WCAB en banc, 2026)
the date the order sets — where it sets none, the attorney sets a 30-day checkPayment after an award or order approving — from service of the award or orderLC 5814
so somebody does16 tasks · due from the day the settlement is signed
§14.1 · Compromise and Release
| Case manager | Assemble every relevant reportEvery AME, QME and treating report bearing on adequacy. Not a selection — the rule is that they go, and withholding them or saying none exist when they do is prohibited. Build the list before the settlement is drafted, because the list is part of what makes it approvable.listReports assembled for filing: {list}. None withheld. | 5 days |
| Attorney | Confirm the client understands itWhat is being released, what is not, and that it is final. This is the attorney’s conversation and the file records that it happened, not what was said.attorneydateTerms explained to the client by {attorney} {date}. | Before signature |
| Case manager | Get it signedThe client signs. Nobody signs on the client’s behalf, and an unsigned settlement is not filed to be fixed later.dateC&R signed by the client {date}. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Case manager | File it with the reportsThe settlement and everything that explains its value, together. A filing the judge cannot value from the record is a filing that comes back.dateNC&R filed {date} with {N} reports. | Same day as signature |
| Case manager | Clip the approval follow-upNothing has happened until the order comes. Thirty days of silence is worth chasing rather than waiting out.received {datedateApproval {received {date} / outstanding as at {date}}. | 30 days |
| Case manager | On the order: clip payment and reconsiderationTwo clocks from one document. The payment date the order sets, or thirty days if it sets none; and the twenty-day reconsideration window, computed from how the order was served.datemethodOrder approving served {date} by {method}. Payment due {date}; recon window to {date}. | On the order |
| Case manager | Tell the client it is approvedAnd what happens next — when payment is expected and what they need to do. This is the call the client has been waiting for.dateClient told of approval {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Watch the paymentWhen it does not arrive, that is the attorney’s question — an unreasonable delay carries a penalty and the file records the dates that show it.received {datedatePayment {received {date} / not received as at {date}}. | The payment date |
| Case manager | File the settlement and its award under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 14. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
§14.2 · Stipulations with Request for Award
| Attorney | Confirm what stays openFuture medical, and the five-year right to reopen. These are the reasons a case is stipulated rather than released, and the client should understand what they are keeping.dateopen / closedTerms explained {date}: future medical {open / closed}; reopener rights explained. | Before signature |
| Case manager | Assemble the supporting recordThe reports that explain the agreed rating. Stipulations need information rather than the full evidentiary record a C&R needs — but the judge still has to see how the figure was reached.listSupporting reports filed with the stipulations: {list}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Check the rating against the findingsThe stipulated percentage is compared with what the reports actually found. If the firm rates the case it rates from the findings, and any discrepancy is surfaced to the attorney rather than resolved on the file.pctAgreed / discrepancy raised {dateStipulated {pct}; findings support {pct}. {Agreed / discrepancy raised {date}}. | 3 days |
| Case manager | Get it signed and file itSigned by the client, filed with the supporting record.dateStipulations signed {date}, filed {date}. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Case manager | Clip the award follow-upNothing is decided until the award issues.received {datedateAward {received {date} / outstanding at {date}}. | 30 days |
| Case manager | On the award: clip payment and reconsiderationBoth clocks, computed from service. And leave the five-year clock open — the award does not close it.datemethodAward served {date} by {method}. Payment {date}; recon to {date}. Five-year clock remains open to {date}. | On the award |
| Case manager | Tell the client what they still haveThe award, the payment, and — plainly — that future medical and the reopener remain. Clients routinely believe a stipulated case is finished.dateClient told of the award {date}; open rights explained. | 2 days |
producing
Compromise and Releasesigned by clientgoes to the Board, with every relevant reportstarts the judge’s review — approval, an Order Suspending Action, or a hearing
27 templates in the library serve this
- Compromise and Release
- Compromise and Release [Third Party]
- Compromise and Release Continuation Sheet Characterization of Settlement Proceeds
- Compromise and Release Dependency Claim
- DEFENSE-Compromise Release and Order Approving Transmittal Letter
- Joint Order Approving Compromise And Release (OACR)
- OACR Order Approving Compromise and Release
- OACR Order Approving Compromise and Release
- Order Approving C&R Rodgers Thomas Sumner
- Order Approving Compromise and Release (DIA)
- Stipulation and Award and or Order
- Stipulation And Award And/Or Order
- Stipulation and Order to Pay A Lien Claimant
- Stipulations for Award WC3 (Pre 2005)
- Stipulations With Request For Award
- Stipulations With Request for Award - Award Page Only
- Stipulations With Request for Award [Death Case]
- Commutation Request Form
- Settlement of Prospective Vocational Rehabilitation Services 10122-22
- Stipulation And Order (Replacement PQME List)
- Summary of Settlement Conference Proceedings
- CLIENT-C and R Client (Generic)
- CLIENT-C and R Sign Letter Client (Generic)
- CLIENT-Settle (Generic)
- CLIENT-Stip Sol six Months
- DEFENSE-Stip
- DEFENSE-Stip sign
The library cannot produce this- Letter to the WCAB re a Compromise and Release
and then
the date the order sets — where it sets none, the attorney sets a 30-day checkfrom service of the award or order
nothing binds until the Board approves it
The judge wants more before approving
They moved
what happens
An Order Suspending Action on a settlementORDER · tab 2 / tab 14
the clock starts
the attorney sets the datefrom the OSA
8 CCR 10700(b), 10789(e) · Gaines v. ABM Aviation (WCAB en banc, 2026)
A judge may NOT use an OSA to compel an evaluation, dismiss with prejudice, or cut a fee without notice and a record (Gaines, en banc 2026). Answer what it asks; do not read it as a refusal.
so somebody does5 tasks · due from the day the Order Suspending Action is served
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Read what the order actually asks forAn OSA names what is missing — a report, a fee declaration, a civil-case fact, a signature. It is a list, and it is answered item by item rather than by resubmitting the same settlement.dateitemsOSA served {date}. Asks for: {items}. | Same day |
| Case manager | File the Order Suspending Action under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 2. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney and put the settlement back on the file as pendingThe settlement is not approved and is not dead. It sits pending, and anything that assumed approval — a payment diary, a closing letter — is held.dateitemsAttorney told {date}. Settlement of {date} pending; {items} held. | Same day |
| Paralegal | Assemble what it asks forMedicals, civil-case facts, fee support. What the judge asked for and not more — an OSA is not an invitation to refile the whole thing.datewhatAssembled for the OSA {date}: {what}. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Attorney | Resubmit, and record what changedThe amended settlement goes back with the items supplied. What changed between the version the judge suspended and this one is recorded, because the file must be able to show it.datewhatResubmitted {date}. Changed from the {date} version: {what}. | The attorney sets the date |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
where it goes nextThe case endsthe defect is cured and it is resubmitted
and then
—from the filing
it is not a rejection and not a dismissal
The Board decides
They moved20 days
what happens
also filed on this chainOACR tab 14
the clock starts
20 days — +5 by mail, fax, e-mail or any method other than personal service to a California address; +10 elsewhere in the United States; +20 outside it, measured by the party’s Official Address Record. Only personal service gets the bare 20from service of the final order, decision or award
LC 5903; 8 CCR 10605(a)–(b), 10940, 10945
20 days on personal service ordinarily · 25, 30 or 40 by other methods as the exception. Only personal service to a California address gets the bare twenty. Mail, fax or e-mail adds five; elsewhere in the United States ten; outside it twenty. The method is read off the proof of service.
60 daysThe Board’s time to act on reconsideration — from transmission of the case to the Appeals Board — service of the judge’s Report & Recommendation is the notice of itLC 5909(a)–(b) · Perez v. Chicago Dogs (WCAB en banc, 2025)
so somebody does8 tasks · due from the day the order is served
§2.2 · Orders and Awards
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the day it arrivesEvery order, without exception. The window is short and it starts from service, which may already have been some days ago.Order typedate{Order type} dated {date}, served {date}, received {date}. Attorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Record the service date and the methodBoth. The method decides whether the window is twenty, twenty-five, thirty or forty days, and it is read off the proof of service rather than assumed from the envelope.datemethodaddress typeServed {date} by {method} to {address type}. Window closes {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Read what it actually decidesIn plain terms, on the file: what was ordered, in whose favour, and on what issues. An order nobody can summarise is an order somebody has to re-read every time it comes up.whatOrder decides: {what}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Put the reconsideration question to the attorneyWith the computed date attached. Whether to seek reconsideration, whether it is removal instead, or whether to accept it — all theirs. The file supplies the date and the document.dateRecon window to {date} put to the attorney {date}. | 1 day |
| Case manager | If an award: clip the paymentThe date the award sets, or a thirty-day check where it sets none.datePayment due {date} per the award. | On the order |
| Case manager | Tell the clientWhat the order says, in plain language. Not what it means for their case going forward — that is the attorney’s conversation and often depends on decisions not yet made.dateClient advised of the order {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | File the decision or award under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 2. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | Decide whether to seek reconsideration, and record it either wayFinal or interlocutory, and whether a ground exists. A decision NOT to seek reconsideration is recorded with its date and its reason — an unrecorded decision is indistinguishable from a missed deadline, and the twenty days do not come back.sought / not soughtdate…Reconsideration {sought / not sought} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Within the twenty days |
producing
3 templates in the library serve this
- Minutes of Hearing
- Minutes of Hearing
- Minutes of Hearing/Order/Order and Decision on Request for Continuance/Order Taking Off Calendar/Notice of Hearing
and then
60 daysfrom transmission of the case to the Appeals Board — service of the judge’s Report & Recommendation is the notice of it
if reconsideration is sought, the Board has sixty days
Is it final, or interlocutory?
They moved
what happens
also filed on this chain132A tab 2SIBTF tab 2
the clock starts
—from —
Vazquez v. Renteria (WCAB en banc, 2025); 8 CCR 10955(a)
Two different routes with different timetables, and the file cannot tell which. A final order decides a substantive right or a threshold issue — injury arising out of employment, jurisdiction, employment, the statute. Evidence, discovery, trial setting and venue are interlocutory. The attorney decides.
so somebody does9 tasks · due from the day the petition is filed or served
§2.4 · Petitions
| Case manager | Name which petition it isReopen, reconsideration, removal, terminate, commutation, penalties. Everything else on this page depends on it, and the file name should carry it.typepartydatePetition {type} filed by {party} {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorneyOurs or theirs. A petition is always attorney work.dateAttorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | If theirs: clip whatever answer period appliesAn answer to a petition for reconsideration is ten pages and has its own period. Put the date in front of the attorney with the document.dateAnswer window to {date}; attorney told. | Same day |
| Case manager | If ours: verify it and serve itA petition for reconsideration is verified and served with a proof of service. File it in EAMS or with the district office.datepartiesPetition filed {date}, verified, served on {parties}; POS filed. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Case manager | Watch for the Report and RecommendationOn a reconsideration petition its service is notice that the case went up, and it starts the Board’s own sixty days.served {datedateR&R {served {date} → Board’s 60 days to {date} / not served as at {date}}. | 30 days |
§2.5 · Discrimination and Subsequent Injuries
| Case manager | File it as its own proceedingBehind the pleadings, named for what it is. It is not correspondence and it is not part of the Application.132a petition / SIBTF applicationdate{132a petition / SIBTF application} filed {date}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Assemble what it rests onA §132a rests on what the employer did and when — termination dates, communications, the timing against the claim. A SIBTF application rests on the earlier disability: its records, its ratings, its dates. Both are evidence-gathering the file can do while the attorney frames the pleading.proceedingwhatAssembled for {proceeding}: {what}. | On direction |
| Case manager | Record the dates it turns onFor a §132a, the date of the act complained of. For a SIBTF application, the dates of the prior injury and its resolution.listKey dates: {list}. | On direction |
| Case manager | Keep it visibleA collateral proceeding is the thing most easily forgotten on a busy file, because nothing routine touches it.date…Status as at {date}: {…}. | Ongoing |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
and then
20 days — +5 by mail, fax, e-mail or any method other than personal service to a California address; +10 elsewhere in the United States; +20 outside it, measured by the party’s Official Address Record. Only personal service gets the bare 20from service of the final order, decision or award
a final order takes the 20-day reconsideration clock; an interlocutory one is challenged by removal
Money moves
Routineno clock — logged
what happens
14 days — thereafter a ten per cent self-imposed increase attaches to the late paymentThe first temporary disability payment — from the fourteenth day after the employer learns of the injuryLC 4650(a), (d)
Not verified against the standardLC 4650(a) and (d) are not in AAI-STD 1. They are stated in The Blackletter on California Workers’ Compensation (2026), which quotes the Appeals Board’s en banc decisions verbatim — Farris and Messele both discuss the LC 4650(d) increase. The fourteen days and the ten per cent are the statute’s; the firm should confirm the current text before relying on either.
No deadline attaches to a payment record, and that is deliberate — tasking somebody on every cheque stub buries the tasks that matter. But a demand or a penalty is built from this ledger, so a gap in it is a gap in the argument.
so somebody does4 tasks · due from the day it arrives
§11.1 · Checks, Bills and Payment Records
| Case manager | Log itAmount, date, what it was for, who paid it. That is the whole routine task on this tab and it is the one that makes the rest possible.amountdatewhatpayerPayment {amount} dated {date} for {what}, from {payer}. Logged. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Note anything that looks wrongA rate that changed without explanation, a gap in a run of payments, a payment for something the file does not recognise. Not an argument — a note, for whoever asks later.what looks irregularNoted: {what looks irregular}. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Keep the history current for a demandA demand about temporary disability or a penalty is built from this ledger. It is only useful if it is right on the day the demand is drafted.dateNPayment history current as at {date}: {N} entries. | Ongoing |
| Case manager | File the payment record under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 11. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
producing
12 templates in the library serve this
- Application for Discretionary Payments from the Uninsured Employers’ Fund
- DEFENSE-C and R Signature Demand
- DEFENSE-Demand (Generic)
- DEFENSE-Demand Letter Short but Sweet (Generic)
- DEFENSE-PD Advance (Generic)
- DEFENSE-Temporary Disability Demand
- DECLARACIÓN SOBRE COBRO DE HONORARIOS
- DEFENSE-Late Check
- DEFENSE-Mileage
- DEFENSE-Rx
- MISC-Prescription Reimbursement Form (blank)
- Request for Reimbursement of Accommodation Expense
The fee is decided
We moved
what happens
A settlement or award is filedPET · tab 2
the clock starts
—from —
LC 4906(a), (d); 8 CCR 10844 · Gaines (en banc, 2026)
No fee is demanded or accepted until the Board approves it. A disputed fee does not have to hold up the settlement.
so somebody does3 tasks · due from the day the fee question arises
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Paralegal | Assemble the fee supportWhat the firm did, and when. The support is the record of the work, not an assertion about its value.datewhatFee support assembled {date}: {what}. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Attorney | The attorney sets the requestWhat is asked for is the attorney’s. No fee is demanded or accepted before the Board approves it, and a disputed fee does not have to hold up the settlement — it can be held in trust and heard later.amountdatefiled with the settlement / deferredFee request set at {amount} {date}; {filed with the settlement / deferred}. | The attorney sets it |
| Case manager | Watch for the order and record what was approvedThe approved figure, not the requested one. They are frequently different and the file must show which is which.amountdateFee approved {amount} by order of {date}. Requested was {amount}. | On the order |
producing
8 templates in the library serve this
- Petition for Order Allowing Attorney’s Fees
- Attorney-Client Agreement
- Compliance with Labor Code §4906(g)
- Compliance with Labor Code §4906(h)
- Declaration of Itemized Statement of Costs
- Fee Disclosure Statement
- Fee Disclosure Statement
- SPANISH Compliance With Labor Code §4906(g)
where it goes nextMoney movesthe fee is paid from the award
and then
a disputed fee can be held in trust while the settlement is approved and heard later
A provider claims against the case
They moved18 months
what happens
A lien for services the provider says it gaveLIEN · tab 15
the clock starts
18 months for services on or after 1 July 2013; 3 years for earlier servicesfrom the date the services were provided
LC 4903.5(a), 4903.05
Already runningThis period did not start when this chain did. It has been running since the date the services were provided — before the case reached this page, and in most files before the firm was retained. What is left is what matters, and the answer is on the file, not on this page.
18 months ordinarily · 3 years for services before 1 July 2013 as the exception. Eighteen months for services on or after 1 July 2013. Three years for earlier services — which still arrive on old cases. The DATE OF SERVICE decides, not the date of the lien.
the date on the noticeThe lien conference — from the notice8 CCR 10875, 10888
Eighteen months from the SERVICE date, not from anything the case did — and 548 days is the longest period in the standard. Without the declaration under penalty of perjury the lien is dismissed by operation of law, which is worth noticing early rather than at the conference.
so somebody does8 tasks · due from the day the lien is served
§15.1 · Liens
| Paralegal | Log it against the caseClaimant, amount, the services claimed and their dates. Liens are managed as a list, and a lien not on the list is a lien discovered at settlement.claimantamountdatesLien logged: {claimant}, {amount}, services {dates}. | 2 days |
| Paralegal | Check it was filed in timeCompare the service dates against the filing date — eighteen months for services from July 2013, three years before that. Record the comparison; whether to act on it is the attorney’s.datesdatewithin / beyondServices {dates}; lien filed {date}; {within / beyond} the period. For the attorney. | 3 days |
| Paralegal | Check the declaration is thereWithout the declaration under penalty of perjury the lien is dismissed by operation of law. Its absence is worth noticing early rather than at the conference.present / absentpaid / not evidencedDeclaration {present / absent}; filing fee {paid / not evidenced}. | 3 days |
| Paralegal | Check the services against the caseDo the dates fall in the treatment period? Are the body parts the ones in issue? A lien for treatment on a body part never pleaded is a different conversation from one that is simply large.consistent / inconsistentdetailServices {consistent / inconsistent} with the treatment record: {detail}. | 5 days |
| Paralegal | Calendar any lien conference with an assigneeIt is an appearance and somebody has to make it.datewhoLien conference {date} calendared to {who}. | On the notice |
| Paralegal | Keep the list current for settlementLiens are what a settlement has to deal with. The list is only useful if it is right on the day the settlement is drafted.dateNtotalLien list current as at {date}: {N} liens, {total}. | Ongoing |
| Case manager | File the lien under its tabUnder its OWN date, at tab 15. The TYPE code decides the tab, which is what the code is for. A document acted on before it is filed is a document somebody is working from a copy of, and the copy is the one that gets annotated.tabdateFiled tab {tab} under its own date {date}. | 2 days |
| Attorney | Decide whether to act on a lien filed out of timeThe file records whether the lien was filed inside its period and whether the declaration under penalty of perjury is there. Whether to raise either is the attorney’s, and a lien not objected to is a lien that stands.datetimely / out of timepresent / absentObjection raised {dateLien of {date}: {timely / out of time}, declaration {present / absent}. {Objection raised {date} / no objection}. | Before the lien conference |
producing
10 templates in the library serve this
- 10770.5 Verification fo Filing of Lien Claim or Application by Lien Claimant
- Notice and Request for Allowance of Lien
- Notice and Request for Allowance of Lien
- Supplemental Lien Form and Section 4903.05(c)Declaration
- EDD LIEN CLEARANCE SHEET
- EDD Lien Inquiry Fax Form
- Lien Affidavit
- Pre-Trial Conference Statement Lien Issues Addendum
- Affidavit of Applicant/Defendant RE: Liens, Medical Providers, and Miscellaneous Bills
- Resolution of Liens - Affidavit of Good Faith
and then
the date on the noticefrom the notice
every defendant and lien claimant appears, or may be dismissed
The injury gets worse
Fatal if late5 years
what led hereThe Board decidesan award exists, so new and further disability can be claimed
what happens
New and further disability appears after an awardPET · tab 2
the clock starts
five yearsfrom the date of injury
LC 5410
Already runningThis period did not start when this chain did. It has been running since the date of injury — before the case reached this page, and in most files before the firm was retained. What is left is what matters, and the answer is on the file, not on this page.
On a CUMULATIVE TRAUMA this phrase names two dates. The injury has a period start and a period end, and anything computed from the date of injury uses the END date. Both dates go on the file; neither is used silently.
If this is lateAfter five years from the date of injury the Board loses jurisdiction to award new and further disability. An award already made does not extend it.
Five years from the DATE OF INJURY, not from the award. It survives a stipulated award, which is why stipulations were chosen over a release — and clients routinely believe a stipulated case is finished.
so somebody does4 tasks · due from the date of injury — the five-year jurisdictional date
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Fix the five-year date at the awardFive years from the DATE OF INJURY, not from the award — and on a cumulative trauma from the period end date. It survives a stipulated award, which is why the diary is set when the case appears to close.datedate of injuryLC 5410 jurisdiction ends {date}, five years from {date of injury}. Diary set. | On the award |
| Case manager | Review the file against the dateWhether anything has changed since the award — new treatment, a worsening, a new body part. A year is enough time to obtain a report if there is one to obtain.datechanged / no changeActionFive-year review {date}: {changed / no change}. {Action}. | 1 year before the date |
| Case manager | Tell the client the date is approachingClients routinely believe a stipulated case is finished. The letter states the date and asks whether anything has changed — it states no view about whether a petition lies.dateClient told {date} that the five-year period ends {date}. | 1 year before the date |
| Attorney | The attorney directs the petition, or records that none is filedNew and further disability is the attorney’s judgement on the medical evidence. A decision not to petition is recorded with its date.filed / not fileddate…Petition to reopen {filed / not filed} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Before the date |
producing
Petition (reconsideration, removal, reopen, penalties)signed by attorneygoes to the Board, served with a proof of servicestarts reconsideration: the Board’s 60 days from transmission; the answer is due within its own period
2 templates in the library serve this
- Petition to Reopen
- Petition to Reopen - With Proof of Service
and then
it is a Petition to Reopen, not a fresh Application — the case exists and jurisdiction is being reasserted
A petition for serious and willful misconduct
Fatal if late1 year
what happens
the attorney decides the facts may support a petition under LC 4553PET · tab 2
the clock starts
one yearfrom the date of injury
LC 5407(a)
Already runningThis period did not start when this chain did. It has been running since the date of injury — before the case reached this page, and in most files before the firm was retained. What is left is what matters, and the answer is on the file, not on this page.
On a CUMULATIVE TRAUMA this phrase names two dates. The injury has a period start and a period end, and anything computed from the date of injury uses the END date. Both dates go on the file; neither is used silently.
If this is lateA petition filed after the year is barred. The underlying case is not — it continues under its own period — but the additional 4553 recovery is gone.
Not verified against the standardLC 5407(a) and LC 4553 are not in AAI-STD 1. Unlike every other citation on this page, they have not been checked against primary text by the standard’s verification record. Confirm the period against the Labor Code before relying on it.
The one-year period runs from the DATE OF INJURY and is not extended by the statute that extends the ordinary claim period. A case still perfectly alive under LC 5405 can be too late for a 4553 petition.
so somebody does4 tasks · due from the date of injury — the limitation date, not the day anything arrives
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Fix the date the year runs fromThe date of injury, and on a cumulative trauma the period END date. LC 5407 is not extended by the statute that extends the ordinary claim period, so this date is computed once and diarised, not recomputed later.date of injurydateS&W period: one year from {date of injury}. Diary set for {date}. | On opening |
| Case manager | Put the question to the attorney earlyWhether the facts may support a petition is the attorney’s, and it needs deciding while there is still time to investigate. Six months before is a diary entry, not a deadline.datepleading / not pleading / to reviewS&W question put to the attorney {date}; {pleading / not pleading / to review}. | 6 months before the date |
| Paralegal | Assemble the facts if the attorney directs itWhat the employer knew, and when. Statements, prior incidents, safety records. The petition is a pleading of facts, not an assertion.datesourcesS&W facts assembled {date}: {sources}. | On the attorney’s direction |
| Attorney | File and serve, or record the decision not toA decision not to plead it is recorded with its date and reason. An unrecorded decision is indistinguishable from a missed one.filed / not pleadeddate…S&W petition {filed / not pleaded} {date}. Reason: {…}. | Before the date |
producing
2 templates in the library serve this
- Petition for Benefits for Serious and Willful Misconduct of Employer Pursuant to Labor Code Section 4553
- Petition for Penalties
The prior disability is at issue
We movedwhen the combined disability is likely to reach the threshold
what happens
a prior permanent disability combines with this injurySIBTF · tab 2
A separate claim against the Fund, filed against a different party. It has its own application and its own notice of representation, which is why they belong on their own chain rather than in with intake.
so somebody does4 tasks
no owner, no due date
No page in the procedure manual covers this chain yet, so these tasks carry no owner and no due date. They are the steps the statute requires; who does them, and by when, is a decision the firm has not recorded.
| — | establish the prior permanent disability | — |
| — | obtain the combined rating | — |
| — | file the application against the Fund | — |
| — | serve the Fund and all parties | — |
producing
2 templates in the library serve this
- NOTICE OF REPRESENTATION FOR SUBIN
- Application for Subsequent Injuries Fund Benefits
The injured worker dies
Fatal if late1 year
what happens
The firm learns the injured worker has diedAPP-ADJ · tab 2
the clock starts
one year from death, and no later than 240 weeks from the injuryfrom the date of death
LC 5406(b)
Already runningThis period did not start when this chain did. It has been running since the date of death — before the case reached this page, and in most files before the firm was retained. What is left is what matters, and the answer is on the file, not on this page.
If this is lateA dependants’ claim filed after the period is barred. It is a separate claim with its own applicants; the injured worker’s own case ending does not preserve it, and nothing about the existing file extends it.
Not verified against the standardLC 5406(b) and the death-benefit provisions are not in AAI-STD 1. Unlike every other period on this map they have not been checked against primary text by the standard’s verification record. Confirm the period and the dependency rules before relying on them.
This is NOT the same case. The applicants are the DEPENDENTS, the benefit is theirs, and who is a dependent — and whether wholly or partially — is a question of fact at the date of injury, not of who survives. Continuing the existing case in the deceased’s name is the error.
so somebody does5 tasks · due from the date of death
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Record the date of death and how the firm learned itThe date is the one the limitation period runs from, and where it came from matters — a family telephone call is not a certificate. The certificate is requested the same day.datehowrequested / heldDeath recorded {date}, learned {how} on {date}. Certificate {requested/held}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Stop anything that assumes a living applicantA deposition, an evaluation, a scheduled appointment. They are cancelled or held, not left to fail on the day.itemsdateHeld pending death claim: {items}, {date}. | Same day |
| Case manager | Tell the attorney the same dayWhether a death claim lies, who may bring it and what becomes of the existing case are all the attorney’s. The file records the death and the date; it states no view on any of that.dateAttorney told {date}. | Same day |
| Paralegal | Identify who may claim, on the attorney’s directionDependency is decided at the date of injury, and total and partial dependants are treated differently. This is fact-gathering — relationships, household, support — not a conclusion about who qualifies.datewho, relationship, householdDependency facts gathered {date}: {who, relationship, household}. | On direction |
| Case manager | Diary the period from the date of deathOne year from death, and the 240-week outer limit from the injury. Both dates go on the file because the earlier of the two governs.dateDeath claim period: one year to {date}; 240 weeks from injury to {date}. | Same day |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
The library cannot produce these- Application for Adjudication of Claim — Death
- Notice and request for allowance of lien for burial expenses
- Dependency questionnaire
The case closes and the file does not
Routine
what happens
Closed is a status on the cover, never a reason to withhold a filing or a send. A UR denial arriving on a closed case is filed and appealed inside its own clock, and the note says the case was closed when it came. The reopening follows the filing rather than gating it.
A case closes when the last clock has run — the award paid, the appeal window passed, the liens resolved — or when the firm withdraws or the client leaves. The FILE does not close with it. Documents keep arriving on closed cases and some of them still carry a clock.
so somebody does6 tasks · due from the day the case closes
Written for this map — not from the procedure manual
| Case manager | Record what closed the case and whenThe last clock run, the firm’s withdrawal, or the client leaving. Which it was decides what has to be served and what is still owed, and it is a fact the file will be asked for years later when nobody remembers.datelast clock run / withdrawal / client leftCase closed {date}: {last clock run / withdrawal / client left}. | Same day |
| Case manager | File the closing document under its own tabClosing is a document — the closing letter, the substitution, the final award with its payment proved. It is filed like any made document, under its own date, and the cover records the closing date.whatdatetabClosing document {what} dated {date}, filed tab {tab}. Cover updated. | 2 days |
| Case manager | Clip the two retention dates to the coverTwo dates, not one: the end of the firm’s retention period, and the end of any LONGER period a document in the file requires — a minor’s matter, a future-medical award, a lien still open. The longer date governs the whole file. Nothing arrives to say this was missed, which is why it is clipped at closing rather than remembered.datewhyRetention: firm period to {date}; longest document period to {date} ({why}). Governing date {date}. | 5 days |
| Case manager | Empty the pocket before the file is closedA piece the procedure could not finish is not closed with the case. Each one is finished or its reason is recorded on the cover.Nfinished / recorded on the coverPocket at closing: {N} pieces, {finished / recorded on the cover}. | Before closing |
| Case manager | Keep answering the three questions on anything that arrives afterA closed case still runs the standard. A document arriving on one is placed, named, clipped and reported exactly as on an open case, and the note says the case was closed when it came. A UR denial on a closed case carries its own window whatever the cover says; the reopening follows the filing rather than gating it.whatdatetabDocument {what} received {date} on a closed case; filed tab {tab}, clipped {date}, attorney told {date}. | Ongoing |
| Case manager | Record any destruction as a person’s actNothing is destroyed by the procedure. Destruction is a person’s decision under the firm’s retention rule and the client’s rights, and it is recorded on the cover with its date and its authority. The index survives the file — it is the record of what the file held.returned to client / destroyeddateauthorityPaper originals {returned to client / destroyed} {date} under {authority}. Index retained. | On the retention date |
producing
No template in the library. This is written from scratch, on a clock somebody else started.
The library cannot produce these- Closing letter to the client
- Notice of withdrawal
- File retention and destruction record
No statutory clock, and two thirds of the paper. A proof of service starts
nothing and SUPPLIES the date every other clock runs from; a substitution is how the mail
keeps arriving. These belong to no point in the sequence, which is why they are here rather
than in it.
These sit in the same library as the case templates and are not case documents.
Leaving them attached to a chain made the chain wrong — a reader opening
“stationery” found a probate power of attorney. They are listed here so the library is
still fully accounted for, and so the firm can decide what to do with them.