RULE 10. HEARING PROCEDURE

A. Presiding Officers.

Hearings are held before one or more Commissioners or a Referee appointed by the Commission. The presiding officer in each case is designated by the Commission.

B. Stipulations

. The parties may stipulate to the facts of any case in writing and the Commission may make its order or award thereon.

C. Exhibits.

1. Unless good cause is shown to the contrary at least 10 days prior to a hearing, each party shall serve on all other parties complete, legible, and accurate copies of all exhibits to be offered into evidence at hearing, including, but not limited to, medical records. The proposed exhibits shall be bound by spiral, three-ring, or similarly secure binders and shall be arranged in chronological order with the first exhibit as the earliest date: proceeding to the last as the latest date. All pages within each exhibit shall be numbered in consecutive order. Each party shall file a notice with the Commission that service of such exhibits has been completed.

2. In the event that the existence of a proposed exhibit is discovered in good faith and with due diligence less than 10 days before the date of hearing, the party discovering the same shall immediately notify all other parties of the existence of the exhibit. The party shall also serve a complete, legible and accurate copy of the exhibit on all other parties, and file with the Industrial Commission a notice indicating the proposed exhibit has been served.

3. All parties must present the Commission, at hearing, with an electronic copy (in .pdf format) of all exhibits to be offered. Each exhibit within the electronic copy shall be clearly identified by its exhibit letter or number. An electronic copy shall not substitute for the requirement to provide a paper copy of exhibits at the hearing.

D. Depositions.

Generally - The testimony of any witness or witnesses may be presented by deposition prior to the conclusion of the hearing, provided that the party offering the deposition testimony provides reasonable notice prior to the taking of the deposition that the deposition may be used for testimonial purposes. The deposition testimony of any witness also may be presented prior to  the conclusion of the hearing by agreement of the parties. Absent such notice or agreement, a deposition may be used only to the extent allowed by the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure.

E. Post-hearing Depositions.

1. At the conclusion of a hearing, unless the parties agree to a shorter time, the record shall remain open for the submission of expert testimony through posthearing deposition. Notice of all depositions to be taken pursuant to this subsection must have been be filed with the Commission and served on all other parties not later than 10 days prior to the hearing. The original of all post-hearing depositions shall be filed with the Commission.

2. A party who has given notice of a deposition under this subsection may vacate the deposition only by serving reasonable written notice on all other parties and giving them an opportunity to respond. Any party who objects to vacating a posthearing deposition must serve reasonable written notice of its objection on all other parties. If any party serves a notice of objection as provided herein, the deposition shall not be vacated; provided, however, that the service of a notice of objection shall constitute a certification that the party or parties objecting to vacating the deposition will bear the costs of the deposition.

3. All depositions to be submitted on behalf of a claimant must be taken no later than 14 days after the conclusion of the hearing; all depositions to be submitted on behalf of a defendant must be taken no later than 28 days after the conclusion of the hearing. The Commission may alter the time limits within which to notice or take post-hearing depositions upon the filing of a motion showing good cause for such modification: Provided, however, that any stipulation or motion to enlarge the period for post-hearing depositions must be submitted to the Commission for its approval prior to the expiration of the original period and must set forth reasonable grounds for such enlargement and the extent of the enlargement sought.

4. Unless the Commission, for good cause shown, shall otherwise order at or before the hearing, the evidence presented by post-hearing deposition shall be evidence known by or available to the party at the time of the hearing and shall not include evidence developed, manufactured, or discovered following the hearing. Experts testifying post-hearing may base an opinion on exhibits and evidence admitted at hearing as well as on expert testimony developed in post-hearing depositions. Lay witness rebuttal evidence is only admissible post-hearing in the event new matters have been presented and the Commission so orders.

F. Evidence.

The filing of a document, including a pre-hearing deposition, does not signify its admission in evidence, and only those documents which have been admitted as evidence shall be included in the record of proceedings of the case

G. Medical Reports.

Any medical report(s) existing prior to the time of hearing, signed and dated by a physician, or otherwise sufficiently authenticated, may be offered for admission as evidence at the hearing. The fact that such report(s) constitutes hearsay shall not be grounds for its exclusion from evidence.

H. Hearing Transcript and Deposition Procedure.

1. All requests for copies of hearing transcripts shall be in writing and filed directly with the Commission. The Commission will provide the requesting party with one copy of the hearing transcript. Oral requests will not be honored.

2. The Commission will not honor any request for a transcript made directly to the court reporter. The requester will be responsible for any costs charged by the court reporter for any documents the court reporter provides to the requester. Invoices sent to the Commission for such costs will be returned.

3. Parties that notice a deposition will be responsible for its costs, including the court reporter.

4. The Commission will not provide or pay for copies of pre- or post-hearing depositions.

I. Video Hearings.

The Commission may, sua sponte or on a motion made by a party, order the holding of a hearing utilizing video conferencing equipment and facilities available to the Commission under such terms and conditions as the Commission may provide.

COMMENTS: Subsection C.1 provides a system of organization of exhibits presented to the Commission for its consideration in resolving issues. Bates stamping is encouraged. Although the rule requires service of the exhibits 10 days before the hearing, the Commission would encourage the parties to make every effort for each party to receive the exhibits 10 days before the hearing. Subsection E.4 addresses the use of expert testimony and lay witness rebuttal testimony. Subsection H memorializes the Commission’s policy to provide hearing transcripts, but not deposition transcripts, upon a party’s written request.