What the panel ordered
The WCAB panel affirmed the WCJ's May 24, 2021 decision and denied the Petition for non-IBR Dispute Resolution.
Petitioner filed a timely Petition for Reconsideration after the WCJ issued a decision on May 24, 2021, and the WCAB panel issued this decision after reconsideration on December 20, 2021.
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.
Petitioner failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the reasonable value of the medical-legal services it provided, as required by Labor Code 4621(a), and thus the Petition was denied.
From the decision · page 11The record in this case consists of Petitioner's assertion that 72.24% of its invoice amount should be used to determine reasonable value and Defendant's assertion that the amounts paid with the Objection Letters issued is the reasonable value. There is no actual analysis of the photo copy subpoena service industry market rate within a geographically relevant area for 2013 for each line item listed in the invoices. Petitioner provided insufficient information of the supply and demand for this service to project a market rate. No witness was produced by Petitioner to explain the reasonable value of each line item in the invoices. Therefore, Petitioner has not proved by a preponderance of the evidence the reasonable value of the services provided in regard to any of the subpoenas. In the absence of Petitioner proving by a preponderance of the evidence the reasonable value of its services as required by Colamonico its Petition for non-IBR Dispute Resolution must be denied. All other issues become moot.