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2010 Alaska Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2010)

handle is hein.sag/sagak0017 and id is 1 raw text is: January 6, 2010 The Honorable Clark Bishop Commissioner, Department of Labor & Workforce Development State of Alaska PO Box 111149 Juneau, AK 99811-1149 Re: Workers' Compensation Officers' Authority to Decide Disputed Procedural Issues, AGO No. AN2009104342 Dear Commissioner Bishop: You have asked for our opinion as to the role that non-attorney workers' compensation officers can play with respect to conducting prehearing conferences and whether an officer is engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when the officer decides disputed procedural and preliminary issues.' You also inquired whether the decision in Bohlmann v. Alaska Construction & Engineering, Inc., 205 P.3d 316 (Alaska 2009), has a legal impact on how workers' compensation officers conduct prehearing conferences involving unrepresented parties. In brief, it is our opinion that workers' compensation officers may exercise the full authority as the board's designee in conducting prehearings and are not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when they decide disputed procedural issues. In addition, it is our opinion that the Alaska Supreme Court's Bohlmann decision does not affect the designation of workers' compensation officers to conduct prehearings, as permitted by both statute and regulation, even when a party at the prehearing is not represented by counsel. A more detailed analysis of these responses follows. I By statute and regulation, the Workers' Compensation Board (board) may have the board's designee conduct prehearings conferences. See AS 23.30.108, AS 23.30.110(c), and 8 AAC 45.065. The board historically has designated non-attorney workers' compensation officers to conduct these prehearing conferences.

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