Hearings and Trial

Workers' compensation trials do not look like trials on television. No jury, no gallery, and frequently no more than an hour of testimony. The room is small and the judge has read the file.

And the most important proceeding is not the trial.

The proceedings, and which are remote

Where each office is, and what it is like to get there.

Getting there: the Declaration of Readiness

Either side files a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed saying the case is ready.

If you are served with a DOR, you have 10 calendar days to object.

Under 8 CCR § 10744, a party who does not object "shall be deemed to have waived any and all objections to proceeding on the issues specified in the declaration, absent extraordinary circumstances."

Ten days, and the waiver is broad.

The MSC is then set 10 to 30 days after the DOR (§ 5502(d)), and trial within 75 days of the DOR if the case does not resolve.

The mandatory settlement conference — where cases are decided

Most cases end here. But even when they do not, the MSC is the most consequential hour in the claim, for a reason that has nothing to do with settlement.

§ 5502(d)(3): "Discovery shall close on the date of the mandatory settlement conference. Evidence not disclosed or obtained thereafter shall not be admissible unless the proponent of the evidence can demonstrate that it was not available or could not have been discovered by the exercise of due diligence prior to the settlement conference."

Whatever is not on the exhibit list at the MSC does not come in at trial.

The parties complete a joint Pretrial Conference Statement setting out the issues, the stipulations, each side's proposed permanent disability rating, every witness, and every exhibit — with author, date, and title for each document (8 CCR § 10759).

Which means the MSC is where a missing supplemental report, an un-deposed evaluator, an unclaimed body part, or an unraised apportionment defect becomes permanent.

And it is why a case review is worth the most before this date and much less afterward.

Trial

Before a workers' compensation judge. No jury.

The evidence is mostly documents — medical reports, medical-legal reports, wage records, personnel records — and those were all listed at the MSC.

Live testimony is usually short: the injured worker, sometimes a coworker, sometimes a supervisor. Physicians rarely testify live; where their opinions are challenged it is usually by deposition, which also had to happen before the MSC.

You will testify if the facts are disputed. The same rules apply as at a deposition: tell the truth, answer only what is asked, do not guess, do not minimize, and describe your limits accurately including the good days. More on testifying.

You are entitled to a certified interpreter, at no cost. Your interpreter rights.

Then the case is submitted, and the judge issues Findings and Award — or Findings and Order — with a written opinion. It is not decided from the bench; expect a wait.

After the decision

Petition for Reconsideration — 20 days (§ 5903), and only from a final order. A non-final order is challenged by Petition for Removal instead, and filing the wrong one wastes the deadline.

And the rule became permanent on July 13, 2026.

Labor Code § 5909 deems a petition denied unless the Appeals Board acts within 60 days. Since July 2, 2024 — under AB 171 (Stats. 2024, ch. 52) — that 60 days runs from the date a trial judge transmits the case to the Board. That version was written to sunset on July 1, 2026 and return the clock to the date of filing. SB 171 (Stats. 2026, ch. 83) deleted the sunset and repealed the filing-trigger version.

The operative rule is 60 days from the date a trial judge transmits the case to the appeals board, with no expiration date.

Reed v. County of San Bernardino (significant panel decision, November 5, 2024), which held the clock began when the case appeared as "Sent to Recon" in EAMS, was construing the trigger that is still operative. A great deal of currently published material announced a reversion to the filing trigger on July 1, 2026; the Legislature undid the sunset twelve days later.

After the Board: a Petition for Writ of Review to the Court of Appeal, within 45 days.

Practical notes

Conferences are remote by video — but treat them as court. Somewhere quiet, on time, no driving.

Trials are in person, and the offices differ enormously in parking, security, and access. Santa Ana runs up to $18 a day; Anaheim, Long Beach, Pomona, Oxnard, Goleta, San Diego, and Bakersfield are free. Los Angeles has the strictest screening in the system. Bakersfield will not let an unrepresented worker past the lobby without an escort. All thirteen offices.

Bring your own copies of anything you want to refer to.

And expect to wait. Calendars are crowded and cases are called in an order that will not be explained to you.

Frequently asked questions

What people actually ask about the process

• How do I get this heard faster?there is a specific procedure for it, and unrepresented workers can use it
• What happens at a settlement conference?including what to do if you are handed a number in the hallway
• My case was dismissed.usually not the end, but the clock on fixing it is short
• Should I settle or go to trial?