CaliforniaInsights
WCAB reconsideration outcomes, 2021–2026.
A panel decision is the Appeals Board answering a petition for reconsideration — somebody lost in front of a judge and asked for review. So this is not a picture of how claims end. It is what happened to the ones that were appealed and published: which disputes were fought there, how they came out, what panels did with the medical opinions. Every number opens the decisions behind it.
- Released decisions
- 5,654
- Disputed issues
- 7,091
- Medical opinions weighed
- 4,559
- En banc · significant
- 138 · 36
Read these numbers as what they are
Almost every decision here — 5,353 of 5,654 — is a panel decision, which means the Appeals Board answering a petition for reconsideration or removal. Somebody lost in front of a workers' compensation judge and asked three commissioners to look again.
Most claims never reach that. They settle by compromise and release or by stipulation, or the judge's decision stands and nobody appeals. Those cases are not in this corpus and cannot be, because the state does not publish them. So a share here — “applicant prevailed 37%” — is the share among appealed and published decisions. It is not the odds on a claim, not a base rate, and not something to quote to a client as one.
What it is good for: seeing which arguments the Board actually entertains, what it does with a QME report that skips apportionment, and which way a remand usually goes. Every figure below opens the decisions it counts, so nothing here has to be taken on trust.
A decision can decide several issues; each is counted once. These are the six the corpus carries enough of to quote. A remand is a decision sent back for more record, most often a medical one — on reconsideration it is a common outcome, and it means the fight continues rather than that anybody won.
All issues in the corpus
- 2,590
- Applicant prevailed · 37%
- 2,918
- Defendant prevailed · 41%
- 1,030
- Remanded · 15%
- 190
- Mixed or split · 3%
- 363
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 5%
Compensability
AOE/COE — was the injury industrial
876disputes
- 453
- Applicant prevailed · 52%
- 172
- Defendant prevailed · 20%
- 209
- Remanded · 24%
- 11
- Mixed or split · 1%
- 31
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 4%
Permanent disability
Permanent disability rating
536disputes
- 253
- Applicant prevailed · 47%
- 79
- Defendant prevailed · 15%
- 139
- Remanded · 26%
- 20
- Mixed or split · 4%
- 45
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 8%
Treatment
Medical treatment, UR and IMR
437disputes
- 249
- Applicant prevailed · 57%
- 109
- Defendant prevailed · 25%
- 50
- Remanded · 11%
- 12
- Mixed or split · 3%
- 17
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 4%
Indemnity
Temporary disability
330disputes
- 168
- Applicant prevailed · 51%
- 65
- Defendant prevailed · 20%
- 60
- Remanded · 18%
- 18
- Mixed or split · 5%
- 19
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 6%
Permanent disability
Apportionment — industrial versus other causes
288disputes
- 138
- Applicant prevailed · 48%
- 60
- Defendant prevailed · 21%
- 63
- Remanded · 22%
- 7
- Mixed or split · 2%
- 20
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 7%
Medical-legal
QME and AME process
211disputes
- 90
- Applicant prevailed · 43%
- 71
- Defendant prevailed · 34%
- 30
- Remanded · 14%
- 10
- Mixed or split · 5%
- 10
- Deferred, moot, not reached · 5%
How panels weighed medical opinions
4,559 medical opinions the released decisions ruled on, by the physician's role and what the panel did with the opinion. Counts of opinions in decisions, not a record on any evaluator: the corpus never scores a doctor.
| Weight given | QME | Treating physician | AME | Other | Secondary treater | Vocational expert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relied upon | 1,321 | 598 | 556 | 284 | 49 | 24 |
| Given great weight | 34 | 36 | 36 | 21 | 8 | 3 |
| Partially credited | 123 | 59 | 34 | 45 | 18 | 3 |
| Rejected | 357 | 108 | 80 | 112 | 20 | 15 |
| Not substantial evidence | 166 | 60 | 46 | 70 | 9 | 0 |
| Record developed further | 54 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Not reached | 64 | 29 | 22 | 60 | 0 | 0 |
| All opinions | 2,119 | 897 | 792 | 597 | 108 | 46 |
Decisions by year
Released panel decisions by the date on the decision. 2026 is the year so far.
- before 2021145
- 2021876
- 2022907
- 2023791
- 20241,058
- 20251,055
- 2026812
What kind of decisions
Almost all are panel decisions, which bind no one but the parties. En banc and significant panel decisions are the ones that state the rule.
- Panel decision
- 5,213
- En banc
- 138
- Order denying reconsideration
- 104
- Decision and order
- 97
- Order granting reconsideration
- 62
- Significant panel
- 36
- Other
- 4
Holdings later panels named
Released decisions whose extracted legal standard names the holding. The leading cases themselves are older than this corpus.
- Escobedo — how-and-why apportionment
Apportionment
414decisions
- Almaraz/Guzman — rebutting the strict Guides
Permanent disability
74decisions
- Nunes — vocational expert opinions after 2013
Permanent disability
48decisions
- Kite — combining impairments
Permanent disability
45decisions
37decisions
- Benson — separate injuries, separate ratings
Permanent disability
36decisions
- Ogilvie — rebutting the DFEC / earnings adjustment
Permanent disability
36decisions
- LeBoeuf — inability to compete in the open labor market
Permanent disability
29decisions
28decisions
Labor Code sections panels applied most
Ten sections named most often in the extracted legal standards, out of 124 in the state's file.
- § 5903
ARTICLE 1. Reconsideration [5900 - 5911]
498decisions
- § 5909
ARTICLE 1. Reconsideration [5900 - 5911]
464decisions
- § 5900
ARTICLE 1. Reconsideration [5900 - 5911]
406decisions
- § 5902
ARTICLE 1. Reconsideration [5900 - 5911]
272decisions
- § 3600
CHAPTER 3. Conditions of Compensation Liability [3600 - 3605]
176decisions
- § 4663
ARTICLE 3. Disability Payments [4650 - 4664]
162decisions
- § 4600
ARTICLE 2. Medical and Hospital Treatment [4600 - 4615]
150decisions
- § 5412
CHAPTER 2. Limitations of Proceedings [5400 - 5413]
150decisions
- § 5904
ARTICLE 1. Reconsideration [5900 - 5911]
89decisions
- § 4664
ARTICLE 3. Disability Payments [4650 - 4664]
81decisions
Where the litigated tail was heard
Ten district offices with the most released decisions naming the venue. A count of decisions, not a rate for the office.
- Van Nuys
VNO
876decisions
- Los Angeles
LAO
503decisions
- Oakland
OAK
449decisions
- Santa Ana
ANA
341decisions
310decisions
- Sacramento
SAC
271decisions
- Anaheim
AHM
270decisions
242decisions
- Riverside
RIV
218decisions
- Fresno
FRE
196decisions
What these numbers are, and are not
- Counts of published WCAB panel decisions, almost all of them since 2021: the litigated tail of a system that mostly settles. Settlements, and the claims that were never disputed, are not here.
- Each count is a link to the decisions behind it, with the passage each one turned on and the official PDF.
- Issues, outcomes and the weight given to an opinion were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked.
- Nothing here rates a judge, an office, an evaluator, or a firm, and nothing here predicts an outcome. It is not legal advice.
About these counts
What happened on WCAB reconsideration in this corpus?
Counts over released panel decisions — outcomes by issue, how panels treated QME, AME, and treating opinions, by year and office. Every number opens the decisions behind it. This is the appealed, published tail, not how claims end.
Is this a win-rate dashboard?
No. A petition for reconsideration means someone already lost at trial and asked for review. The mix of issues here is not the mix of claims in the system. Not legal advice and not a case-value model.
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