CA DWC Announces Appointment of James Libien to Ethics Advisory Committee

San Francisco, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) - Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) Acting Administrative Director George Parisotto has appointed James R. Libien to serve as a member of the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee. The appointment is effective today.  

Libien is counsel with Renn Sloan Holtzman Sakai, specializing in workers’ compensation. He has represented public and private employers before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). He has also served as a pro tem judge and as a mediator. He will fill the position to be held by an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB and who usually represented defendants, which was previously held by the late Robert Ruby.  

The ethics advisory committee, established in 1995 by Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 9722, reviews all ethics complaints from the public against workers' compensation administrative law judges. The committee reviews all complaints without learning the names of complainants or judges, and then makes recommendations to the administrative director and the DWC court administrator. The committee meets quarterly and members serve without compensation.

The regulation provides that the committee must include: three members of the public individually representing organized labor, insurers and self-insured employers; an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB and who usually represented insurers or employers; an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB and who usually represented applicants; a presiding judge; a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCALJ) or retired WCALJ; and two members of the public outside the workers' compensation community.

A judicial ethics complaint form and instructions can be found on the forms page of the DWC website. 

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