Home/Case Law/LOUIE POTEAT vs. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Regular DecisionReconsideration

LOUIE POTEAT vs. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Filed: Aug 12, 2010
ADJ770488 (SAC 0338243)

CompFox AI Summary

This case involves a dispute over an attorney's fee award in a workers' compensation matter. The applicant's attorney sought to increase a previously awarded fee of $67,053.42 to $162,339.84, arguing it was a correction of a clerical error based on faulty data and that the Board had jurisdiction to modify awards. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board denied reconsideration, affirming the administrative law judge's decision. The Board found the original fee was a substantive error, not a clerical one, and that increasing it would constitute a substantive change prohibited by Labor Code Section 5804. Additionally, the applicant's attorney failed to comply with notice requirements regarding the applicant's right to independent counsel for fee increase requests.

Full Decision Text1 Pages

This case involves a dispute over an attorney's fee award in a workers' compensation matter. The applicant's attorney sought to increase a previously awarded fee of $67,053.42 to $162,339.84, arguing it was a correction of a clerical error based on faulty data and that the Board had jurisdiction to modify awards. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board denied reconsideration, affirming the administrative law judge's decision. The Board found the original fee was a substantive error, not a clerical one, and that increasing it would constitute a substantive change prohibited by Labor Code Section 5804. Additionally, the applicant's attorney failed to comply with notice requirements regarding the applicant's right to independent counsel for fee increase requests.

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