Shelter in Place for Bay Area; WCAB Restricted Appearances
Ok, dear readers, I’m trying my best to keep Corona news to a minimum, but there’s no escaping it in this case. We’ve had some serious developments both focused on the Bay Area and state wide.
Starting with the Bay Area, six counties have instituted orders to “shelter in place” and shut down all non-essential businesses for the next 3 weeks or so. Most of the county orders provide an exception for legal services if those services are “essential,” which probably provides sufficient wiggle room to keep workers’ compensation firms at least partially open, but the general approach right now is that if one can work from home, one should work from home.
The San Mateo ordinance, for example, where your humble blogger hangs both his hat and his shingle, provides an exemption for “Professional services, such as legal or accounting services, when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities.” (See page 5 of 7, paragraph xx). The other ordinance seem to have something similar in place.
Take heed, dear readers, there’s a good chance this is coming to your county as well and I would take all necessary steps to prepare for working remotely, including moving file and hardware as necessary.
The other issue is presently state-wide. The DWC has severely restricted access to the Board. From March 17 (yesterday) to March 20, only expedited hearing will be heard at the Board. From March 23 to April 3, expedited hearing will continue to be heard in person, but status conferences, MSCs, and priority conferences will be by Court Call only.
Trials and lien conferences will not be heard at all during this time.
As for filings, the filing date deadlines will be extended to Monday, April 6, 2020 (assuming this doesn’t continue past then!) There will be no walkthroughs, but it looks like parties can still e-file. Furthermore, the individual boards may set up a method of having settlements e-mailed directly to the Judges for review and approval. But, nothing will be accepted as a walk-in or in-person walkthrough.
Let’s remember the key lesson here, dear readers: We, as Americans, rebelled against a monarch and so hate everything crown related, especially a virus named Corona. Therefore we must fight this virus to the bitter end!
In the alternative, let’s remember that we’re all trying our best to make sure medical facilities and resources are not overwhelmed with cases, especially for at-risk population. So please do your best to practice social distancing, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and let’s get this thing under control!
Your humble blogger hopes you will continue to stay safe, stay healthy, and, after this high-and-mighty and somewhat condescending lecture of a blog post, stay a reader 🙂