What the panel ordered
The WCAB affirms the WCJ's October 21, 2019 Findings and Order denying attorney fees to applicant's attorney from EDD's recovery under Labor Code section 4903.2.
Applicant's attorney seeks reconsideration of the October 21, 2019 WCJ Findings and Order denying attorney fees from EDD's recovery under Labor Code section 4903.2.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCAB found that EDD's participation in the hearing satisfied the participation requirement under Labor Code section 4903.2(b), thus barring attorney fees to applicant's attorney from EDD's recovery.
From the decision · page 5In this case, EDD filed a lien on November 19, 2018 and a representative for EDD attended the hearing on May 15, 2019. We find that to be sufficient participation within the meaning of section 4903.2 and consistent with the cases cited above. We further note that section 4903.2 attorney fees are discretionary and not mandatory and we find the WCJ was within her discretion to deny them.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
EDD filed a lien and had a representative attend the May 15, 2019 hearing.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This attendance constituted sufficient participation under Labor Code section 4903.2(b), barring attorney fees to applicant's attorney from EDD's recovery.
From the decision · page 5In this case, EDD filed a lien on November 19, 2018 and a representative for EDD attended the hearing on May 15, 2019. We find that to be sufficient participation within the meaning of section 4903.2 and consistent with the cases cited above. We further note that section 4903.2 attorney fees are discretionary and not mandatory and we find the WCJ was within her discretion to deny them.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 4903.2
Labor Code section 4903.2
The statute limits attorney fees from lien claimant recoveries and requires participation by lien claimant's attorney to bar fees to applicant's attorney.
From the decision · page 2Section 4903.2, enacted in 1980, effective as of January 1, 1981, and amended in 1983, currently states in its entirety as follows:
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
EDD's representative attended the May 15, 2019 hearing, constituting sufficient participation under Labor Code section 4903.2(b).
From the decision · page 5In this case, EDD filed a lien on November 19, 2018 and a representative for EDD attended the hearing on May 15, 2019. We find that to be sufficient participation within the meaning of section 4903.2 and consistent with the cases cited above. We further note that section 4903.2 attorney fees are discretionary and not mandatory and we find the WCJ was within her discretion to deny them.
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
- If you are named in this decision and want this page removed, write to privacy@similarcase.com.