Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 876 - Workers' Compensation Division › Chapter 4 - Contested Cases › Rule 876-4.19 - Prehearing Procedure

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) Prehearing
			 procedure in contested cases shall be administered in accordance with these
			 rules and the orders issued by the workers' compensation commissioner or a
			 deputy workers' compensation commissioner.
(2) The parties have a duty to exercise
			 reasonable diligence to bring the contested case to hearing at the earliest
			 reasonable opportunity.
(3) The
			 following time limits govern prehearing procedure, completion of discovery and
			 case management in contested cases, except proceedings under rules
			 876-4.46 (17A,85,86) and 876-4.48 (17A,85,86) and except when otherwise ordered
			 by the workers' compensation commissioner or a deputy workers' compensation
			 commissioner.
a. Within 120 days following
			 filing of a petition, the counsel of record for all parties and all
			 self-represented parties shall request a hearing by using WCES. In a case for
			 which a request for waiver of the mandatory use of WCES has been granted,
			 counsel of record for all parties and all self-represented parties shall
			 jointly contact the hearing administrator by telephone at (515)725-3891 between
			 the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. central time, Monday through Friday,
			 excluding holidays, or by email at
dwc.hearing@iwd.state.ia.us
to schedule a hearing
			 date, place and time. Claimant has primary responsibility for initiating the
			 contact. The parties shall identify the case by file number and the names of
			 the parties and request that the hearing be set at a specific date, place and
			 time that is shown to be available on the hearing scheduler published on the
			 division's website. Primary and backup times must be requested for hearings in
			 venues other than Des Moines. When the contact is made by email, a copy of the
			 request shall be sent to each opposing party, and the hearing administrator
			 will reply indicating whether or not the case is assigned at the time
			 requested. If a request is denied, the parties shall continue to contact the
			 hearing administrator by telephone or email until the case is scheduled or a
			 prehearing conference is ordered. A joint scheduling contact may be initiated
			 by any party at any other time agreeable to the parties. If more than 120 days
			 have elapsed since the petition was filed, any party may move to schedule the
			 hearing at a particular date, time and place that is available and the hearing
			 administrator may assign the case for hearing at any date, time and place. The
			 hearing date shall be within 12 months following the date the petition was
			 filed or as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable as determined by the
			 hearing administrator. If the parties fail to schedule the hearing with the
			 hearing administrator within nine months of the filing of the original notice
			 and petition, the case will be scheduled at the discretion of the hearing
			 administrator without prior notice to the parties.
b. A party who intends to introduce evidence
			 from an expert witness, including a rebuttal expert witness, shall certify to
			 all other parties the expert's name, subject matter of expertise,
			 qualifications, and a summary of the expert's opinions within the following
			 time period:
(1) claimant-120 days before
			 hearing;
(2) employer/second injury
			 fund of Iowa-90 days before hearing;
(3)
			  rebuttal-60 days before hearing. Certification is not required to
			 introduce evidence from an examining physician pursuant to Iowa Code section
			 85.39, a treating physician, or a vocational consultant if the expert witness
			 is known by all parties to have personally provided services to the claimant
			 and the witness's reports are served on opposing parties prior to the date when
			 certification is required. The parties may alter these times by written
			 agreement.
c. Discovery
			 responses must be supplemented as required in Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure
			 1.503(4) and 1.508(3). Discovery responses shall be supplemented within 20 days
			 after a party requests supplementation. All discovery responses, depositions,
			 and reports from independent medical examinations shall be completed and served
			 on opposing counsel and self-represented parties at least 30 days before
			 hearing. The parties may alter these times by written agreement.
d. At least 30 days before hearing, counsel
			 of record and self-represented parties shall serve a witness and an exhibit
			 list on all opposing counsel and self-represented parties and exchange all
			 intended exhibits that were not previously required to be served. The witness
			 list shall name all persons, except the claimant, who will be called to testify
			 at the hearing or who will be deposed prior to the hearing in lieu of
			 testifying at the hearing. The witness and exhibit lists are not filed in WCES.
			 If the exhibit list does not contain actual exhibits, the exhibit list must
			 specifically identify each exhibit in a way that permits the opposing party to
			 recognize the exhibit. The description for a document should include the
			 document's date, number of pages and author or source. Blanket references such
			 as "all medical records," "personnel file" or "records produced during
			 discovery" do not specifically identify an exhibit. A party may serve a copy of
			 the actual intended exhibits in lieu of an exhibit list. At least 14 days
			 before hearing, counsel of record and self-represented parties shall file all
			 proposed exhibits in WCES, or if a party has been granted a waiver of the
			 mandatory use of WCES, the party shall file the proposed exhibits with the
			 division of workers' compensation. At least seven days before the hearing,
			 counsel of record and self-represented parties shall file all written
			 objections and motions to exclude evidence with the division of workers'
			 compensation and serve a copy on all other parties. Objections to exhibits are
			 waived if they are not filed at least seven days before the hearing.
			 Evidentiary depositions pursuant to Iowa Code section 86.18(2)  may be taken at
			 any time before the hearing in lieu of the witness testifying at the
			 hearing.
e. If evidence is offered
			 at hearing that was not disclosed in the time and manner required by these
			 rules, or as altered by order of the workers' compensation commissioner or a
			 deputy workers' compensation commissioner or by a written agreement by the
			 parties, the evidence will be excluded if the objecting party shows that
			 receipt of the evidence would be unfairly prejudicial. Sanctions may be imposed
			 pursuant to rule 876-4.36 (86) in addition to or in lieu of exclusion if
			 exclusion is not an effective remedy for the prejudice. If a party offers an
			 exhibit or document in paper form which is accepted by the workers'
			 compensation commissioner or a deputy workers' compensation commissioner, the
			 party shall have five working days to submit an electronic copy of the document
			 by using WCES.
f. At least 14 days
			 before the hearing, counsel of record and self-represented parties shall
			 prepare and file a joint hearing report that defines the claims, defenses, and
			 issues that are to be submitted to the deputy workers' compensation
			 commissioner who presides at the hearing. The hearing report shall be filed in
			 portable document format (pdf) or as an image-on-text document (searchable pdf)
			 as a proposed hearing report. The hearing report shall be signed by all counsel
			 of record and self-represented parties. The approved hearing report order shall
			 be signed by the deputy workers' compensation commissioner and filed in
			 WCES.
g. If a party is unable to
			 meet a nonjurisdictional filing deadline because of a technical failure in
			 WCES, the party must file the document using the earliest available electronic
			 or nonelectronic means. The filing will be accepted by the division of workers'
			 compensation as timely unless the workers' compensation commissioner or a
			 deputy workers' compensation commissioner determines otherwise.
h. Jurisdictional deadlines, including but
			 not limited to any applicable statute of limitations, cannot be extended. It is
			 each party's responsibility to ensure that a document is filed timely to comply
			 with jurisdictional deadlines. A technical failure, including a failure of
			 WCES, will not excuse a failure to comply with a jurisdictional
			 deadline.
i. A party is not excused
			 from missing a jurisdictional or nonjurisdictional filing deadline because of
			 problems attributable to the party.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code chapter
				86.