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How to file a Workers' Compensation appeal without an attorney.
If you want to appeal a decision by a Workers' Compensation Board Hearing Officer to the Maine Supreme Court, you must do the following things within 20 calendar days from the date on which you (or your representative) received the Hearing Officer's decision:
Send a copy of the Hearing Officer's decision and a check or money order for the $120.00 filing fee to the:
Clerk of the Law Court
PO Box 368
Portland, ME 04112-0368
These must be received in the clerk's office by 4:00 p.m. on the 20th day. This time period can not be extended. Be sure to include a letter with your current mailing address on it, and YOU MUST SEND a copy of that letter to the attorney for the employer AND the General Counsel of the Workers' Compensation Board. Keep a copy of the Hearing Officer's decision and your letter to the court for your records. Do not send anything to your local District or Superior Court because those courts do not handle Workers' Compensation cases.
Next the clerk's office will send you a letter telling you that the case is now in the Supreme Court and telling you that a docket number has been given to your case. Be sure to put this docket number on any papers you file with the court. The letter will tell you the date on which your Petition for Appellate Review is due. The Petition for Appellate Review is your written statement of the errors you feel were made by the Hearing Officer. The time period for the filing of the petition can be extended for a reasonable period of time if you file a written request for an extension of time. YOU MUST SEND a copy of your request to the attorney for the employer AND the General Counsel of the Workers' Compensation Board.
When you have finished writing your Petition, attach a copy of the Hearing Officer's decision to it. If there is more than one Hearing Officer's decision, attach copies of all of them. Make 12 copies of the Petition and Decision(s). Send 10 copies to the Clerk of the Law Court. YOU MUST SEND one copy each to the attorney for the employer AND the General Counsel of the Workers' Compensation Board. Keep a copy for your records.
The attorney for the employer has 14 days in which to file a response to your petition. This time period can be extended. The response is optional, so sometimes they don't file one. The attorney for the employer will send you a copy of any papers he or she files with the court.
It may take as long as several months to get a decision from the court on your petition for appellate review. If the petition is denied that is the end of the case. Many Workers' Compensation appeals end at this point in the process. If the petition is granted, both sides will have to files briefs (a longer and more detailed written statement) and may have to come to Portland for a hearing before the Supreme Court.
Matthew Pollack, Clerk of the Law Court
207-822-4146 or -4270
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