“A fighting force both consistent and compassionate on a scale’s a 5 all around.”
Rachael Hall
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Bad ruling? We take your case to the next level — Reconsideration, Writ of Review, and beyond.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
When a workers' compensation judge at the Long Beach WCAB District Office issues a decision that fails to account for the full severity of your injury, you are not required to accept it. California law provides a formal appeal process through a Petition for Reconsideration, which must be filed within 20 days of the date the judge serves the Findings and Award. That 20-day window is not negotiable — miss it, and the judge's decision becomes final regardless of how wrong it may be. For Long Beach workers whose livelihoods depend on industries like port operations, oil refining, and aerospace manufacturing, an unfavorable decision at the WCAB can mean the difference between adequate lifetime benefits and a payout that runs out before your medical needs do. An appeal attorney who understands the process and the standards of review is essential.
The Petition for Reconsideration is not a new trial. The WCAB commissioners in San Francisco review the existing record — the medical reports, hearing transcripts, deposition testimony, and documentary exhibits that were before the trial judge — and determine whether the decision is supported by substantial evidence and correct as a matter of law. A successful petition must identify specific legal or factual errors. The judge may have relied on a medical opinion that lacked adequate foundation. The permanent disability rating may have been calculated using the wrong occupation group or failed to account for a body part that was clearly injured. The judge may have improperly apportioned disability to non-industrial factors without substantial medical evidence supporting that apportionment. These are the types of targeted arguments that the commissioners take seriously.
Long Beach workers' comp appeals frequently involve disputes over the rating of industrial injuries that arise from the city's heavy industries. A port crane operator's permanent disability for a cervical spine injury may have been rated using the wrong occupational group, failing to account for the specific physical demands of maritime equipment operation. A refinery worker's chemical exposure claim may have been denied at trial based on a medical opinion that the judge found persuasive but that lacked the toxicological foundation necessary to constitute substantial evidence. A Boeing worker's cumulative trauma claim may have been apportioned excessively to non-industrial factors, reducing the permanent disability award by half. Each of these errors is correctable on appeal, but only if the petition is filed within the deadline and supported by precise legal argument.
Our lead attorney, Eman Yazdchi, is a Board-Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law. He handles appeals for Long Beach workers whose cases were tried at the local WCAB and understands the standard of review the commissioners apply when evaluating Petitions for Reconsideration.
Appellate advocacy in workers' compensation requires a fundamentally different skill set than trial practice. Writing a compelling Petition for Reconsideration demands the ability to analyze a voluminous medical-legal record, identify the precise points where the trial judge erred, and present those errors in a concise, well-organized brief that distinguishes your case from the hundreds of petitions the commissioners receive. We approach each appeal with the rigor it demands, reviewing every page of the trial record and every medical report before identifying the strongest grounds for relief.
We also evaluate whether the trial record is deficient — whether the Long Beach WCAB judge excluded evidence that should have been admitted, denied a continuance that prevented you from obtaining a critical medical report, or refused to allow cross-examination on a material point. Procedural errors can be just as powerful as substantive ones in an appeal, and we identify them through careful review of the hearing transcripts.
Injured at work in Long Beach? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →The appeal process begins with our comprehensive review of the complete trial record from the Long Beach WCAB, including all medical reports, deposition transcripts, hearing minutes, and the judge's written Findings and Award. We analyze the decision to identify every ground for reconsideration and draft a detailed Petition that addresses each error with precision. The petition is filed within the 20-day deadline and served on the insurance company, which will have an opportunity to file an Answer. The Long Beach WCAB judge may also issue a Report on the Petition explaining the reasoning behind the original decision. The entire file is then transmitted to the WCAB commissioners in San Francisco for review. The commissioners may grant reconsideration and issue a new decision, deny the petition, or return the case to the Long Beach judge for further proceedings or a new trial. If the commissioners deny the petition, further review may be available through the California Court of Appeal via a writ of review under Labor Code section 5950. We guide you through each stage and keep you informed of all developments. You pay no fees unless we achieve a favorable result.
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