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 Rescinded IAB 11/23/05, effective 1/1/06.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.
Notes
Iowa Admin. Code r. 876-4.9
Amended by
IAB
December 20, 2017/Volume XL, Number 13, effective
1/24/2018
Amended by
IAB
July 31, 2019/Volume XLII, Number 3, effective
7/10/2019
Amended by
IAB
May 20, 2020/Volume XLII, Number 24, effective
6/24/2020
Amended by
IAB
February 8, 2023/Volume XLV, Number 16, effective
3/15/2023
