What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration is denied.
Defendant seeks reconsideration of the January 8, 2026 Opinion and Decision After Reconsideration (ODAR) by the WCAB regarding attorney's fees commutation from applicant's permanent and total disability award.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold January 8, 2026, March 17, 2025.
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 WCAB retains jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the award and the commutation of attorney's fees is collateral to the amount of the award, not a rescission, alteration, or amendment of the award under section 5804.
From the decision · page 3retains the jurisdiction to hear and decide this matter. We noted that while Labor Code1 section 5804 precluded the rescission, alteration, or amendment, of an award more than five years from the date of injury, section 5803 grants the Appeals Board ongoing jurisdiction to enforce its awards, including ancillary proceedings involving commutations and attorney's fees. (ODAR, at p. 4.) Insofar as the present matter involved the allocation of attorney's fees from within applicant's existing award and would not alter or amend the underlying award itself, we concluded that the dispute fell within the Appeals Board's jurisdiction. With respect to applicant's assertion that he was entitled to the full measure of his award once the amount of attorney's fees specified in the award had been withheld, we agreed, noting that the WCJ approving the original award had relied upon the specified amount of attorney's fees in considering the adequacy of the award. (ODAR, at pp. 7-9.) We also observed that pursuant to section 5100, all commutations including those effectuated for attorney's fees, must avoid inequity and undue expense or hardship to the applicant. Accordingly, we concluded that the lateral commutation of attorney's fees from applicant's award of lifetime benefits was limited to the specified amount of attorney's fees approved by the WCJ or the Appeals Board in the first instance.