Arizona Workers’ Compensation Flowchart

Posted in Filing a Workers' Comp Claim on February 29, 2016

The Arizona Workers’ Compensation Hearing Process Explained

1) Receive Notice of Hearing from the Judge’s Office

• Usually sent about 3 weeks after a Request for Hearing is filed
• Gives the date and location of the Hearing
• Hearing usually set out about 4 months

2) Receive written Interrogatories (questions) from opposing counsel

Depending upon the attorney hired by the Worker’s Comp. Insurance company, these usually are sent about 2 weeks after the Notice of Hearing is received.

3) Answer Interrogatories

These represent your sworn answers and must be sent to opposing counsel within 10 days

4) Receive Notice of Deposition from opposing counsel

Depositions are usually set out about a month in the future so opposing counsel can obtain all the records needed

5) Attend Deposition at opposing counsel’s offices

This is the injured worker’s sworn statement taken down by a court reporter.  It takes about an hour located at opposing counsel’s office.

6) Receive Notice of Independent Medical Exam arranged by opposing counsel

The “IME” is arranged with a doctor of the insurance company’s choosing.  The IME doctor is not treating the injured worker

7) Attend Independent Medical Exam

Must attend or case could be thrown out of court

8) Request subpoenas for medical and lay witnesses; submit records into evidence with the Judge

Must be done in writing and each request has a different time requirement

9) Attend and testify at initial hearing before Judge

While it is called a hearing it is akin to a trial and is when the injured worker will testify on the witness stand

10) Receive notice of further Hearings for medical and lay witnesses (can be 4 or 5 further hearings)

Each witness will have a further hearing, each lasting around 1 hour and can be set out 4 to 6 months

11) After all testimony given, Judge has up to 70 days to make a written decision.

Avery N Crossman

Ms. Crossman is a Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation law by the State Bar of Arizona and past Co-Chair of the State Bar Workers’ Compensation Section. She has served as a faculty member at the State Bar Seminar on Professionalism and as a Judge Pro Tempore in the Maricopa County Superior Court. She is a long-time member of the Arizona Association of Lawyers for Injured Workers and has spoken at Workers’ Compensation seminars sponsored by the organization and the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

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