- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Workers Compensation
- Date Filed: 02-16-2022
- Case #: A171885
- Judge(s)/Court Below: DeVore, S.J., for the Court; Mooney, P.J.; & Lagesen, C.J.
- Full Text Opinion
Claimant was denied attorney’s fees where the ALJ reasoned that Claimant's attorney could have challenged the attorney's fees, but any after submitted records would not be considered as part of the hearing record pursuant to OAR 438-015-0029. Claimant appealed that order and argued that the ALJ abused her discretion under OAR 438-007-0025 by denying the admission of accompanying exhibits. A board may make a determination that in reviewing an award of attorney's fee's, it will not consider any evidence that was "not previously made a part of the record.” Daniel L. Demarco, 65 Van Natta 1837, 1847 (2013). The Court held the ALJ had discretion not to reopen the hearing record for new evidence after Claimant prevailed under ORS 656.726(5)(a) and the ALJ did not abuse such discretion. Affirmed.