After a Petition to Review has been filed, a transcript of the hearing(s) will be prepared if a transcript has been requested and paid for by the appealing party. Questions regarding the time for preparing a transcript should be addressed to the individual court reporter involved. Once the transcript is prepared (or if no transcript is requested or paid for), a briefing schedule will be issued. The appealing party is given 20 days to file a brief in support of the appeal. Once the brief is filed (or the time for filing a brief has expired), the opposing party has 20 days to file a response brief. The 20 days begin with the date on the certificate of mailing of the appealing party's brief. When the response brief is filed, or the time for filing a response brief has expired, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has 30 days to issue a supplemental order. If no supplemental order is issued within 30 days, the ALJ must transmit the case file to the Industrial Claim Appeals Office for review. The Industrial Claim Appeals Office must then complete the review and issue an order within 60 days from the date the file is received.
There will not be a hearing at the Industrial Claim Appeals Office. A panel of at least two appellate Administrative Law Judges will review the case based on a review of the record made before the hearing ALJ, as well as the parties' written arguments. You may not submit new evidence to the Panel. Any evidence that was not presented at the hearing will not be considered by the Panel. After reviewing the case, the Panel will issue a written decision.
There is no requirement that you must be represented by an attorney. Parties have the right to be represented by an attorney, but whether you obtain representation is up to you. If a party chooses to obtain an attorney, the party is responsible for the cost.
A party dissatisfied with the Final Order of the Industrial Claim Appeals Panel may appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals. An appeal may also be filed to the Colorado Court of Appeals if the Industrial Claim Appeals Panel fails to issue a decision within 60 days from the date the file is received. The Court has a number of specific procedures you must follow if you wish to file an appeal, and a specific form for appeals of Workers' Compensation cases. You may access that form and the Court procedures online.
Colorado Court of Appeals Procedures and Forms
If you have questions about how to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals, you may contact the Court at (720) 625-5150.
Information contained in Workers' Compensation files is generally restricted. However, there are some statutory exceptions, and the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation may authorize the release of information if there is no improper purpose for the request. Currently, the release of Industrial Claim Appeals Panel decisions is authorized to litigants and practitioners for legal research purposes. Workers' Compensation decisions are also available from three on-line subscription legal research services, LoisLaw, LexisNexis and WestLaw. You may also obtain copies of Workers' Compensation decisions directly from the Industrial Claim Appeals Office by sending your request via email to cdle_icao@state.co.us. The Industrial Claim Appeals Office does not offer a search service to locate decisions by subject matter or issue. Therefore, you must identify the decision you are requesting.
Industrial Claim Appeals Office | 303-318-8131 | Fax 303-318-8139