What happens at a lien conference in a California workers' comp case?

What happens at a lien conference in a California workers' comp case?

This is a short Workers' Compensation Appeals Board hearing where a lien claimant and the defendant try to work out an unpaid bill from your case, not your own benefits.

If a doctor, interpreter, or other provider treated you for a work injury, that provider can ask to be paid directly from your case through a lien. California law allows a lien for several kinds of expenses, including a reasonable attorney's fee and reasonable medical costs. (Labor Code section 4903) The provider who files it is called the lien claimant. This kind of claim is a dispute between that claimant and the defendant, the employer's insurance company or claims administrator, not a claim against you personally. Our guide to lien claims covers what a lien is and who can file one.

When the two sides cannot agree on a bill, either one can ask the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) to set this hearing. Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations treats it as its own kind of proceeding, separate from the hearings on your actual injury claim.

A lien claimant usually cannot ask for it early. Current WCAB rules say a lien claimant may not file the request to set a hearing until your own case is resolved, or until you choose not to pursue it further. (8 CCR section 10742) That is one reason many of these conferences happen near the end of a case or after it settles.

Do I have to go to the lien conference?

Usually not. This hearing is not held on your own case, so the rule that makes you personally appear at your own hearings does not apply to it.

Title 8 regulation 10752 requires you, as the applicant, or the defendant to appear, in person or through a representative, at hearings on the case in chief, meaning your own injury claim. The same rule states plainly that neither a lien conference nor a lien trial counts as one of those hearings. (8 CCR section 10752)

Even so, the WCAB can still order you to appear at a specific hearing like this one, for example if the two sides disagree about whether your treatment was authorized or related to your injury. Always read your own hearing notice first. If it tells you to appear, follow it, even if this general rule would otherwise excuse you.

Who has to appear at a lien conference?

The lien claimant and the defendant are the main parties, and each side must have someone there, or immediately available, with authority to settle.

This hearing is built around the lien claimant's bill and the defendant's position on it. Each required party must have a person with settlement authority on hand. (8 CCR section 10752)

That is different from a mandatory settlement conference or a trial on your own injury claim, where a lien claimant generally does not have to show up in person at all. A lien conference works the other way around. It exists mainly so the two sides can work out the bill between them.

What happens if the lien claimant does not show up?

A judge can move to dismiss the lien. The lien claimant gets a chance to object before that happens.

If a lien claimant skips a scheduled conference, or has no one available with settlement authority, a workers' compensation judge can issue a notice of intention to dismiss the lien for failing to follow the appearance rule. (8 CCR section 10752) The WCAB can issue that kind of notice specifically to allow, disallow, or dismiss a lien. (8 CCR section 10832)

The lien claimant then has a set time to object and explain why the lien should stay active. If no objection comes in, the judge can go ahead and dismiss the lien. If the lien claimant does object, the judge can keep the lien in place, decide it directly, or set it for a further hearing.

What happens if the lien is not resolved at the conference?

A judge can continue the matter to another date or set it for a lien trial, where a judge decides the amount and validity of the lien after hearing evidence.

This kind of hearing often narrows the issues even when it does not fully resolve the bill. The workers' compensation judge has discretion to continue the matter, or to calendar a lien trial when the two sides still disagree. A lien trial follows a format similar to the trial on your own injury claim, but it decides only the lien. It does not reopen or change your own benefits.

If you are the injured worker, a lien conference rarely needs the kind of preparation you would put into a hearing on your own case. The dispute is between that claimant and the defendant over a bill. Still, read every hearing notice you receive. If it lists you or your attorney as required to appear, follow it, and ask your attorney why if you are not sure.

If a lien dispute seems to be holding up the paperwork on your own settlement, or you are simply unsure what a notice you received means, Eman Yazdchi can look at your hearing notice and explain what it covers and what, if anything, you need to do. See where a lien conference fits into the WCAB case stage of a California workers' comp claim in the claim process guide.

Yazdchi Law P.C. is based in Palmdale and represents injured workers across California. Eman Yazdchi reviews each case individually, and the firm does not take every case.

Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form for a free consultation.