Guide

The California panel QME strike process and its deadlines

A practical walkthrough of the panel QME process in represented California workers’ comp cases, written for applicant attorneys and the paralegals who track the dates: how a panel is requested and served, when each side’s strike window opens and closes, what to do when the other side does not strike, and how scheduling and replacement panels work.

Abbreviations used here: QME (Qualified Medical Evaluator), AME (Agreed Medical Evaluator), AA (applicant attorney), DA (defense attorney), POS (proof of service), WCAB (Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board), WCJ (workers’ compensation judge), DWC (Division of Workers’ Compensation), LC (Labor Code), CCR (California Code of Regulations, Title 8).

1. What triggers a panel request

When the injured worker has an attorney, the panel process is governed by LC §4062.2. A panel becomes available when there is a medical dispute: a request for an evaluation of compensability under LC §4060, or a written objection to the treating physician’s determination under LC §4061 or §4062. Either side may request the panel once the waiting period has run.

DWC’s Medical Unit treats a request as premature if it is made before 15 days (10 days plus 5 for mailing) have passed after the objection or the §4060 request was sent to the other side, or 20 days for out-of-state cases. A premature request is rejected.

The parties can still agree on an AME instead. If they do after a panel has issued, the Medical Director may revoke the panel (8 CCR §30(c)).

2. Requesting the panel

For injuries on or after January 1, 2005, a represented panel request is made online through the DWC’s online QME Form 106 panel request system, which requires the attorney’s EAMS Uniform Assigned Name (UAN). The paper QME Form 106 is now used only for injuries before 2005, and QME Form 105 is the paper request for unrepresented workers. The online request uploads the objection or the §4060 request, and the system generates a panel of three QMEs immediately.

The party that requests the panel chooses the specialty. That is why many applicant firms request on the first eligible day.

Serving the panel: 1 working day

The requesting party must print and serve a paper copy of the online request, the panel list, and any supporting documentation it submitted online, on the opposing party with a proof of service, within 1 working day after generating the panel (8 CCR §30(b)(1)(C)).

WCAB panels have enforced this strictly. In Lopez v. Rockstar Staffing (2023) a defense panel served four days after it was generated, without the supporting documents, was found invalid, and later panel decisions have invalidated panels where the POS did not identify the supporting documents served. If defense pulls a panel and serves it late or incomplete, raise the defect right away.

3. The 10-day strike window

The statute and the regulation describe the start of the window differently:

• LC §4062.2(c): “Within 10 days of assignment of the panel by the administrative director, each party may strike one name from the panel.”
• 8 CCR §30(b)(1)(C): “Within 10 (ten) days of service of the panel, each party may strike one name from the panel.”

In practice the two sides’ clocks start on different days, because the requesting party has the panel the moment it issues and the opposing party only has it once served:

The 5 extra days for mail

When a document is served by mail, fax, email or any method other than personal service, 8 CCR §10605 extends the time to act by 5 calendar days for a California address (10 days elsewhere in the United States, 20 days outside it). The WCAB applied this mailbox rule to the strike period in Messele v. Pitco Foods, Inc. (2011) 76 Cal.Comp.Cases 956 (en banc), and recent panel decisions describe the window as “10 statutory days plus 5 days” under Rule 10605. If the last day lands on a weekend or a holiday when the WCAB is closed, it moves to the next business day (8 CCR §10600(b)).

Where the law is unsettled

• Does the requesting party get the 5 days too? Crawford v. Northgate Landscape Management (2019) said no. Rodriguez v. Continuing Life, LLC (2022) treated the requesting party’s online receipt as electronic service and upheld a strike made 14 days after the panel was served. Both are non-binding panel decisions. Count 10 days from issuance for your own panel.
• Assignment or service? The statute says assignment and the regulation says service. Practitioners and most panel decisions count the opposing party’s window from service. That matters when a panel sits for weeks before it is served: the other side’s window does not close based on the issue date alone.

A safe working rule: compute your own deadline as early as it could be, and the other side’s as late as it could be.

There is no rule about who strikes first. DWC’s FAQ says the parties may strike at any time once the panel has issued. The statute does not prescribe a method; serve strikes in writing with a POS so the date can be proven.

4. Strike, strike back, or unilateral selection

The same rule (each side strikes one, the remaining doctor is the QME) shows up on the applicant side as three different letters:

Two cautions on unilateral selection. First, confirm the other side’s window really closed: count it from the date they were served with the panel, add the mail days, and roll past weekends and holidays. Second, use the right quickly. In Saenz v. Kellermeyer Bergensons Services (2025), a WCAB panel held that a party waives the right to select if it does not exercise it within a reasonable time, and cited an earlier panel decision applying a 10-day period.

Both sides strike the same doctor

Two doctors remain and neither the statute nor the regulations say who chooses. Reported matters have gone different ways: one WCJ had the parties file points and authorities on who could schedule with one of the remaining two, and in another the WCAB declined to disturb a WCJ’s order for a replacement panel. Treat it as a dispute to resolve with the other side or the WCJ, not as an opening for a unilateral pick.

5. Scheduling after the strikes

Once the strikes are complete, the represented employee schedules the appointment with the selected QME. If the employee does not do so within 10 business days of the date the QME is selected, the claims administrator or its attorney may arrange the appointment and notify the employee and the AA (8 CCR §31.3(d)). WCAB panels have described this as a shared right after the first 10 business days: once that period passes, either side may schedule.

6. When the QME cannot see the applicant in time

If the party scheduling cannot get an appointment within 90 days of the date of its appointment request, it may waive the right to a replacement and accept an appointment no more than 120 days after its initial request. If the QME cannot schedule within 120 days, either party may report the unavailability and the Medical Director issues a replacement, unless both parties agree in writing to waive the 120-day limit (8 CCR §31.3(e)). The 90/120-day rule is one of the grounds for a replacement QME or panel listed in 8 CCR §31.5(a); others include a QME who does not practice in the requested specialty, two QMEs from the same group practice, a QME who was the applicant’s treating physician, and a change in the applicant’s residence before the first evaluation.

7. A worked example

The AA requests the panel and serves it, with its strike, by mail the next day. Defense never strikes.

1. Mon, Feb 22, 2027Applicant attorney requests an orthopedic panel online. The panel issues the same day. The AA clock starts.
2. Tue, Feb 23, 2027AA mails the panel list, a printed copy of the online request, the objection that was uploaded with it, and a proof of service to defense. In the same envelope AA serves its strike letter striking Dr. A. Service is within 1 working day, as 8 CCR §30(b)(1)(C) requires.
3. Thu, Mar 4, 2027Last day for AA to strike, counting 10 days from issuance (already done here). Under Rodriguez the AA arguably had until Tue, Mar 9, but do not rely on it.
4. Wed, Mar 10, 2027Last day for defense to strike: 10 days from service on Feb 23, plus 5 days for mail.
5. Thu, Mar 11, 2027No defense strike has arrived. AA serves a unilateral selection letter choosing Dr. C from the two who remain (Dr. B and Dr. C), and calls Dr. C’s office for an appointment.
6. Thu, Mar 25, 2027Tenth business day after the Mar 11 selection. If the applicant has not scheduled by now, the claims administrator or defense attorney may arrange the appointment (8 CCR §31.3(d)).
7. Wed, Jun 9, 2027Day 90 after AA first asked Dr. C’s office for an appointment on Mar 11. If the first available date is later, AA can waive and accept a date up to 120 days from that first request, or ask for a replacement (8 CCR §§31.3(e), 31.5(a)(2)).

Dates chosen to avoid court holidays. Change any one input (a defense-requested panel, personal service, a holiday in the window) and every later date moves.

8. Unilateral selection packet checklist

• Letter identifying the panel number and specialty, the physician the AA struck and when, the date defense was served with the panel and when its window closed, that no defense strike was received, and the physician the AA selects under LC §4062.2(c).
• Annotated panel: a copy of the panel list marked with the AA’s original strike and the selection.
• The original strike letter and its POS, which show when defense was served and so when its clock started.
• POS for the unilateral selection letter itself.
• Then contact the selected QME’s office for an appointment, which starts the 90-day count.

How Amber handles this

Amber is an AI agent for California workers’ comp firms. It reads the panels, strike letters and correspondence as they arrive and keeps each case’s panels current. For the strike process it:

• Tracks each panel’s strike deadline for both sides, including the 5 extra days for mail and the roll to the next court day.
• Tells the attorney when defense has missed its strike window, so the next step reads “select the QME” rather than “strike”.
• Drafts the strike, strike back or unilateral selection letter from the firm’s templates, with the panel annotated to show each strike and a POS, plus the email to the DA or adjuster.
• Leaves everything as a draft for attorney review. Nothing is sent until the attorney approves it.

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Questions

Sources

• 8 CCR §30, QME panel requests (DIR)
• 8 CCR §31.3, scheduling an appointment with a panel QME (DIR)
• 8 CCR §31.5, QME replacement requests (DIR)
• 8 CCR §10600, time for actions (DIR)
• 8 CCR §10605, extra time when served by mail, fax or email (DIR)
• Labor Code §4062.2 (California Legislative Information)
• DWC Medical Unit, Online QME Form 106 FAQs
• Saenz v. Kellermeyer Bergensons Services (2025), WCAB panel decision

Last updated October 18, 2026. This guide is general information for practitioners, not legal advice. Panel decisions cited here are not binding precedent, and the rules change; check the current statute, regulations and WCAB decisions before relying on a deadline.