Where this sits
- Chapter 4.5.
- Division of Workers' Compensation
- Subchapter 2. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board--Rules and Practice Procedure
- Article 15. Findings, Awards and Orders
The regulation, as printed
Authority and history
Note: Authority cited: Sections 133 and 5307, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 4903 and 4906, Labor Code.
1. Repealer and new section filed 12-16-92; operative 2-1-93 and exempt from OAL review pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 92, No. 51). 2. Amendment of section heading and text filed 12-23-93; operative 1-1-94. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 93, No. 52). 3. Amendment of article heading, section heading, section and Note filed 11-17-2008; operative 11-17-2008. Submitted to OAL for printing only (Register 2008, No. 47). 4. Repealer of article 17 heading, repealer of former section 10840 and renumbering former section 10776 to section 10840, including amendment of section heading and section, filed 12-17-2019; operative 1-1-2020. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 2019, No. 51).
What panels did with this rule
Released decisions that named § 10840, with the passage each turned on. A panel decision persuades; it does not bind.
- ADJ18236958 · 2026-03-06 · Lodi District Office8 CCR § 10840
Determinative passage · p.73. However, the WCJ raised concerns about the amount of the attorney's fees, and the Petitions for Reconsideration raised the issue of the amount of the attorney's fees. Although parties' stipulations should be allowed where possible, as provided for in Weatherall, supra, that approach is not applicable to attorney's fees in a workers' compensation proceeding. This is because it is not the parties' stipulation but rather sections 4903 and 4906 that give the WCAB jurisdiction to set the legal fees of attorneys appearing before it. (See also Cal. Code Reg., title 8, § 10840-10844.) Attorney's fees generally present as a lien against compensation. (Section 4903(a).) "The Legislature has thus spoken clearly and decisively that attorney fees in workers' compensation cases cannot exceed an amount that is `reasonable' and that the WCAB shall be the final arbiter of reasonableness in all cases." (Vierra v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Board (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 1142, 1148, [72 Cal.Comp.Cases 1128].) "Once services are rendered, the WCJ may approve, increase or reduce the fees provided for in the agreement, taking into consideration the
The WCAB applied these standards to vacate prior orders and remand for further proceedings on attorney's fees.
Official decision · page 7 →
Rules beside this one
Article 15. Findings, Awards and Orders — regulations rarely stand alone, and the answer is often two sections away.
- § 10835Effect of Stipulations.2 decisions
- § 10842Request for Increase of Attorney's Fee9 decisions
- § 10843Petitions for Removal and Answers. [Renumbered]29 decisions
- § 10844Reasonable Attorney's Fee.21 decisions
- § 10845General Requirements for Petitions for Reconsideration, Removal, and Disqualification, and for Answers and Other Documents. [Repealed]
- § 10846Skeletal Petitions. [Renumbered]