The Department of Workers Compensation has announced that it is proposing new regulations, mostly having to do with lien claimants.  You can see the notice and read the new regulations here.

The proposed changes include a process for dismissing liens that have been inactive for the last year, similar to the dismissal of cases for lack of prosecution.

The new proposed regulations also limit the filing of liens to new or opening liens, and lifts the requirement to file (but not to serve) the itemized list that make up the basis for the lien.

Also, it appears that defendants will have grounds to argue that an improperly filed lien is not filed and not binding, even if it is served.   The new proposed regulations even seem to allow for sanctions and attorney’s fees for violations of the new procedures.  (The threat of sanctions is a useful tool in curbing the advances of lien claimants.)

I, for one, am eager to see how much of this survives and becomes the law of the land.  It looks like, before too long, defendants might have a new set of maneuvers to ward off the Lien Pirates!  Even for a cynical workers’ compensation defense attorney, hope springs eternal.