What the panel ordered
Lien claimant's Petition for Reconsideration is denied.
Lien claimant Solano County DCSS sought reconsideration of the Order Approving Compromise and Release (OACR) issued by the WCJ on July 26, 2024.
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 C&R stipulated that defendant would adjust, negotiate, or litigate any timely filed lien, and no lien was of record at the time of the OACR. The DCSS lien was filed after the OACR, so it is defendant's responsibility per the C&R, not grounds to set aside the OACR.
From the decision · page 5In any event, these are the undisputed facts before us: 1) on July 25, 2024, defendant stipulated that it will adjust, negotiate, or litigate any timely filed lien; 2) the parties stipulated that no liens were known as of July 25, 2024, when they signed the settlement documents; 3) no lien was filed when the OACR issued on July 26, 2024; 4) per the OACR, the WCJ found that there were no liens of record; and 5) DCSS filed a lien on August 5, 2024, pursuant to section 4903(e). Based on the foregoing, the lien filed on August 5, 2024, is defendant's responsibility per Paragraph 8 of the C&R. To the extent that defendant and DCSS are unable to adjust or negotiate the lien at issue, either party may file a Declaration of Readiness now that the case-in-chief has been resolved.