(a) "Administrative Director" means the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation.

(b) "Appeals Board" means the commissioners and deputy commissioners of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board acting en banc or in panels.

(c) "Applicant" means any person asserting a right to relief under the provisions of Labor Code Section 5300.

(d) "Application for Adjudication" or "application" means the initial pleading which that asserts a right to relief under the provisions of Labor Code Section 5300.

(e) "Declaration of Readiness to Proceed" or "Declaration of Readiness" means a request for a proceeding before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.

(f) "Declaration of Readiness to Proceed to Expedited Hearing" means a request for a proceeding before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board pursuant to Labor Code section 5502(b).

(g) "Defendant" means any person against whom a right to relief is claimed.

(h) To "file" a document means to deliver the document or cause it to be delivered to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board district office with venue or to the Appeals Board for the purpose of having it included in the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board case file.

(i) "Hearing" means any trial, mandatory settlement conference, rating mandatory settlement conference, status conference, or priority conference.

(j) "Lien claimant" means any person claiming payment under the provisions of Labor Code section 4903 or 4903.1.

(k) "Mandatory settlement conference" means a proceeding before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to assist the parties in resolving their dispute or, if the dispute cannot be resolved, to frame the issues and stipulations in preparation for a trial.

(l) "Party" means an Applicant or Defendant, or a lien claimant where the applicant's case has been settled by way of a compromise and release, or where the applicant chooses not to proceed with his or her case.

(m) "Petition" means any request for action by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board other than an Application for Adjudication, an Answer or a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed.

(n) "Priority conference" means a proceeding before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board in which the applicant is represented by an attorney and the issues in dispute at the time of the proceeding include employment and/or injury arising out of and in the course of employment.

(o) "Rating mandatory settlement conference" means a mandatory settlement conference conducted to facilitate determination of the existence and extent of permanent disability through the use of informal ratings issued by the Disability Evaluation Unit, where the only unresolved issues are permanent disability and the need for future medical treatment.

(p) "Record of proceedings" means the pleadings, Declaration of Readiness to Proceed, minutes of hearings and summary of evidence, transcripts, if prepared and filed, proof of service, evidence received in the course of a proceeding, exhibits marked but not received into evidence, notices, petitions, briefs, findings, orders, decisions and awards, and arbitrator's file, if any.

(q) "Regular hearing" means a trial.

(r) To "serve" a document means to personally deliver a copy of the document, or send it in a manner permitted by these rules, to a party, lien claimant, or attorney who is entitled to a copy of the document.

(s) "Status conference" means a proceeding set for the purpose of ascertaining if there are genuine disputes requiring resolution by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, of providing assistance to the parties in resolving disputes, of narrowing the issues, and of facilitating preparation and trial if a trial is necessary. A status conference includes a lien conference.

(t) "Submission" means the closing of the record to the receipt of further evidence or argument.

(u) "Trial" means a proceeding set for the purpose of receiving evidence.

(v) "Workers' Compensation Appeals Board" means the Appeals Board, commissioners, deputy commissioners, presiding workers' compensation judges and workers' compensation judges.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 133 and 5307, Labor Code.