What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration granted; WCJ's order rescinded; matter returned to WCJ for further proceedings on attorney fee.
Applicant's attorney petitioned for reconsideration of a WCJ order approving a Compromise and Release but reducing the agreed attorney fee from 15% to 10%. The WCAB granted reconsideration and remanded for further proceedings.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCJ reduced the agreed attorney fee from 15% to 10% without providing petitioner notice or an opportunity to be heard, and without specifying the evidence relied upon. Due process requires notice and a meaningful opportunity to present evidence. The record was not sufficiently developed to support the reduction. The matter is remanded for further proceedings.
From the decision · page 5Moreover, petitioner was not provided with notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to the WCJ entering the Order reducing the agreed-upon attorney's fees. (11/5/24 Fee Disclosure Statement; 3/13/25 Order Approving C&R.) Petitioner thus had no opportunity "to supplement the facts developed in the course of the proceedings by other evidence as to the extent and value of the legal services." (Bentley, supra, at pp. 549-550.) For these reasons, we must return this matter to the trial level for further proceedings.