The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) and Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) announced today that beginning August 17, DWC judges will have the option to hold trials and expedited hearings via video conference.
Parties will still need to call into the individually assigned judges conference lines on the day of the trial, and it will be up to the judges to determine whether to hold the trial via video conference in the judge's virtual courtroom. If so, the judge will provide a link so that parties may access the virtual courtroom.
The video conference platform the DWC will be using is LifeSize, which will be free for users. The DWC encourages all parties to download the software prior to any hearing that may require a video conference in order to check system requirements and ensure your system is able to fully participate in the video conference. More information about the LifeSize software and how to use it can be found on the DWC website.
DWC has also begun hearing Special Adjudication Unit (SAU) lien trials and instructs parties to follow the same call-in procedure as for other appearances.
All other lien trials will be continued, but the DWC noted they hope to add lien trials back to the calendar in the near future.
All other procedures will remain as previously announced.
