Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 876 - Workers' Compensation Division › Chapter 4 - Contested Cases › Rule 876-4.9 - Appearance and Responses, Pleadings, Motions and Settlements

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
Appearances and responses to pleadings and motions shall be
				made in WCES. Registration with the division of workers' compensation's WCES is
				required. Registration is accepted at
www.iowaworkcomp.gov/efile
.
				After a matter has been commenced and the respondent has been served with an
				original notice and filed an answer or appearance, subsequent filings or
				submissions in WCES do not require proof of service to parties of record who
				are registered with WCES. If a party has been granted a waiver of the mandatory
				use of WCES, the party shall include a proof of service for all parties of
				record. Attorneys will need to use the AT pin or pro hac vice pin assigned by
				the Iowa Supreme Court to be associated with a case in WCES. When an attorney
				is not representing a party, the employer or insurance carrier or the
				employer's or insurance carrier's agent or claimant shall register in WCES to
				file the settlement or medical data pursuant to 876-subrule 3.1(2). The filer
				will receive a status update for the information the filer submits based upon
				the status the filer selects when registering in WCES.
(1)
Respondent-appearance.
A
			 respondent shall appear by filing an answer or a motion within 20 days after
			 the service of the original notice and petition upon the respondent in WCES, or
			 if a party has been granted a waiver of the mandatory use of WCES, the
			 respondent shall file an answer or motion within 20 days after service of the
			 original notice and petition upon the respondent with the division of workers'
			 compensation.
(2)
Motions.
Motions attacking a pleading must be served before
			 responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is required, upon motion
			 made by a party within 20 days after the service of the pleading on such
			 party.
(3)
Pleading.
Rescinded IAB 11/23/05, effective 1/1/06.
(4)
Time after motions attacking
			 pleadings and special appearances.
If a motion attacking a pleading is
			 so disposed of as to require further pleading, such further pleading shall be
			 served within ten days after notice of the action of the workers' compensation
			 commissioner or deputy workers' compensation commissioner. If the further
			 pleading requires a response, the response shall be filed within ten days after
			 service of the further pleading.
(5)
Amendments to pleadings.
A party may amend a pleading as a matter of course at any time before the
			 party's discovery is closed, or if no order is entered closing the party's
			 discovery, at any time before the case is assigned for hearing. Otherwise, a
			 party may amend a pleading only by leave of the workers' compensation
			 commissioner or deputy workers' compensation commissioner or by written consent
			 of the adverse party. Leave to amend, including leave to amend to conform to
			 proof, shall be freely given when justice so requires.
(6)
Form, submission and ruling on
			 motions.
All motions, including pre-answer motions and motions for
			 summary judgment, shall have appended to them a concise memorandum brief and
			 argument. All motions except motions for summary judgment shall be deemed
			 submitted without hearing on the record presented on the tenth day following
			 filing. Motions for summary judgment shall be deemed submitted as provided in
			 Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.981. Resistances to motions shall have appended
			 to them a concise memorandum brief and argument and shall be filed on or before
			 the date of submission. Briefs and arguments are waived unless appended to the
			 motion or resistance.
An order may be entered consolidating any motion for ruling
				with the hearing of the contested case. Any party desiring a ruling on a motion
				prior to the hearing may concisely set forth the necessity of prior ruling in
				the motion, application or resistance. If a pre-answer motion alleging lack of
				jurisdiction is overruled or consolidated with hearing of the contested case,
				the party shall plead to the merits and proceed to hearing of the contested
				case without submitting to the jurisdiction of the workers' compensation
				commissioner. If a motion attacking a pleading is consolidated with hearing of
				the contested case, the party shall respond to the pleading in the same manner
				as if the motion had been overruled.
(7)
Consolidation.
All
			 petitions involving the same claimant and employer will automatically be
			 consolidated. Any party may file a motion to consolidate common questions of
			 fact and law surrounding an injury or a series of injuries. The motion to
			 consolidate shall be deemed approved without an order if no resistance to the
			 motion is filed with the workers' compensation commissioner within ten days of
			 the filing of the motion.
(8)
Withdrawal of counsel.
Counsel may withdraw if another counsel
			 has appeared or if the client's written consent accompanies the withdrawal.
Under all other circumstances, counsel may withdraw only upon
				the order of the workers' compensation commissioner after making written
				application. Counsel shall give the client written notice that the client has
				the right to object to the withdrawal by filing written objections and a
				request for a hearing to the Division of Workers' Compensation, 150 Des Moines
				Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309, within ten days following the date the notice
				was mailed or personally delivered to the client. The client's response does
				not need to be filed in WCES but may be mailed or delivered to the division.
				Counsel's application shall be accompanied by proof that a copy of the
				application and notice was sent by certified mail addressed to the client's
				last-known address or was delivered to the client personally. If no objections
				are timely filed, the withdrawal will become effective when approved by the
				workers' compensation commissioner. If objections are timely filed, a hearing
				on the application will be held. No withdrawal under this subrule will be
				effective without the approval of the workers' compensation commissioner. The
				filing of an application to withdraw stays all pending matters until a ruling
				is made on the application.
(9)
Requests for default.
Requests or motions for default shall be as provided in Iowa Rules of Civil
			 Procedure 1.971 to 1.977 except that entry of default shall be by order of the
			 workers' compensation commissioner or a deputy workers' compensation
			 commissioner.
(10)
Pro hac
			 vice.
An out-of-state attorney desiring to appear pro hac vice in an
			 Iowa division of workers' compensation case is required to access the office of
			 professional regulation (OPR)/supreme court commissions (SCC) website, submit
			 certain personal information to complete pertinent fields in the lawyer
			 database, and pay a fee that will be deposited in the client security trust
			 fund. The registration and fee payment allow the attorney to apply to appear
			 pro hac vice in Iowa division of workers' compensation cases, subject to the
			 limits and requirements of Iowa Court Rule 31.14, for a period of up to five
			 years from the date of registration. Attorneys who register and pay the fee
			 appear in the OPR/SCC database with the status of "pro hac vice." The Iowa
			 division of workers' compensation will request from the Iowa courts that a pro
			 hac vice number be issued and will provide that number to the out-of-state
			 attorney for registration with WCES. The affiliated in-state attorney shall
			 file in WCES the application to appear pro hac vice completed by the
			 out-of-state attorney using a pleading that is substantially similar to Iowa
			 Court Rule 31.25-Form 1.
This rule is intended to implement the provisions of Iowa Code
				section 17A.12.