If the applicant's attorney requests his fee as provided in the STIP, what is the proper course of action?

• A. Pay from the far end of the award
• B. Pay the attorney first
• C. Pay the attorney so he will go away
• D. Tell the AA to get an order from the WCAB ordering the fee be commuted from the far end of the award

Answer: (D)

When a fee for the applicant’s attorney is set out in the STIP, the payment must be handled through a formal order by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The correct course is to have the applicant’s attorney obtain a WCAB order authorizing the fee to be commuted from the far end of the award. This approach uses the authorized process to divide or convert the future payments into a lump-sum payment to satisfy the attorney’s fee, while protecting the claimant’s ongoing benefits and ensuring the fee is approved by the court. Paying upfront or unilaterally from the current award would bypass the required legal procedure, and attempting to “pay the attorney to go away” similarly bypasses the proper mechanism. The WCAB order provides the proper, official basis for the fee arrangement.