Mendoza, Julio

Lien claimant Angoal Medical Collections (AMC), as assignee of medical-legal provider Julie Goalwin, M.D., sought reconsideration of a WCJ's January 28, 2020 F&O that barred its $3,110 medical-legal lien under the equitable doctrine of laches, based on AMC's untimely filing of the assignment and section 4903.8(d) declaration. The WCAB held that while the lien assignment (entered June 3, 2003) and declaration were filed late in 2019, nothing in section 4903.8 makes an untimely-filed assignment invalid. The Board further held that laches requires both unreasonable delay and affirmative proof of prejudice to the defendant, which is never presumed and must be established by a preponderance of the evidence. Because the defendant provided no affirmative evidence of prejudice, the record was insufficient to support a laches finding. The Board rescinded the F&O, deferred the laches and prejudice issues, and returned the matter to the trial level for further development of the record.