Miguel Pena — ADJ10308959

Applicant's attorney William Herreras sought reconsideration of a Findings and Award that applied a $474,705.79 third-party credit against all benefits, including his attorney's fee, pursuant to a 'Stipulation to Credit' he never signed. Herreras was applicant's attorney of record from 2016 but was not consulted on the third-party settlement, which was instead signed by civil counsel Silvia Sun. The Board held the Stipulation to Credit purported to release future workers' compensation benefits and was presumptively invalid unless approved under Labor Code sections 5000-5003, and that defendant could not apply the credit against Herreras's attorney's fee because his appearance constituted notice of a lien. The Board substituted findings that the 15% attorney's fee be commuted from the far end of the award, that the third-party credit is immediately applicable against applicant's life pension but not the attorney's fee, and deferred whether the credit applies against future medical treatment. The matter was returned to the trial level for further proceedings.