Ethics Committee Affirms Judicial Violations on Six Complaints

The Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee identified five violations of judicial ethics and one “technical violation” in 42 complaints it resolved last year. In one case, a medical lien representative alleged a defense attorney sent an ex parte letter to a judge that was loaded into the Electronic Adjudication Management System as a petition for dismissal. The complaint said the judge acted on the petition by issuing an order denying the lien, but never informed the lien hearing representative about the pending action or allowed a response. After an investigation,...