Judges of Compensation Claims

Office of the Judge of Compensation Claims
District A-West (PNS)
700 South Palafox Street, Suite 305
Pensacola, FL 32502
850.595.6310
850.595.6388 (fax)
Get directions to this Office

Orders available:

All Final Orders entered between November 15, 2001 and the present are now available for download.

          Click here for a listing of the Final Orders entered this month

          Click here for a chronological listing of Final Orders entered

New April 3, 2006, all Final Orders entered between November 15, 2001 and the present are now also organized by subject matter. 

E-Filing is available! Please visit the DOAH OJCC website and register today.

Please register with the OJCC for use of e-filing.  E-filing will minimize postage expense for you and your clients, will reduce the effort required by District staff to process your documents,  and will therefore speed processing of your documents.   Also, because documents are scanned, you can easily verify our receipt of most documents by accessing your case "docket" through the "case search" function at http://jccnet.doah.state.fl.us/jcc/ 

The notices and orders generated by this Office are likewise available in the Docket.  Please feel free to ask us to show you how this function works.

If you are registered, click here to begin.  http://jccnet.doah.state.fl.us/ejcc/

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Effective immediately all orders, mediation reports, notice of mediation, pretrial conference, final hearing, fee hearing, status conference, and amended notices will be emailed to the attorneys.  No copies will be mailed to the claimant, employer or carrier unless they are unrepresented.  The attorney will bear the responsibility of providing their client with a copy of anything received from this office.

Posted 05.02.07

District A-West (PNS) is responsible for adjudication of workers' compensation claims arising from accidents which occur in Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, and Okaloosa County, Florida. 

The jurisdiction, or authority, of this Office generally begins with the filing of a petition for benefits ("PFB") with DOAH in Tallahassee.  Petitions may be submitted by competing a form available in various formats on the DOAH webpage (click here for the DOAH forms directory).  Petitions may also be filed electronically (click here to file an electronic PFB).  Once filed, the petition will be scheduled for final hearing.  Prior to each final hearing, or trial, a preliminary hearing called a "pretrial hearing" will occur.  This provides the opportunity for the parties to exchange information about what claims and defenses remain pending, what documents or testimony ("evidence") will be offerred, and what evidentiary objections any party may assert.  Throughout the process of preparing the issues for final trial, the parties may disagree with one another regarding various issues including production of documents, independent medical examination(s), and admissibility of evidence.  These issues may brought to this Office for resolution of the disagreement by filing a "motion."  The procedures for filing motions are set forth in the DOAH Rules of Procedure.  Many claims will be scheduled for mediation prior to the final hearing.  Following the final hearing, a final order (click here to view recent final orders) will be issued within thirty (30) days.

The purpose of this website is to provide general guidance, not legal advice.  No personel of the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims are permitted to provide legal advice to anyone.  This site provides links to various statutory authorities (Chapter 440, Florida Statutues, and Chapter 90, Florida Statutes) which govern claims for workers' compensation benefits, as well as to the Rules (DOAH Rules of Procedure) which govern the processes of this Office.  Forms are available on the DOAH website.  Additional suggested practice forms are available on this website (click here for other forms).  These additional forms are provided as a guide; use of these forms is not required.  The site also provides an introduction to the staff of this District Office and the responsibilities which they each have.

Please note, in 2006 Shalimar hearings will occur on Wednesdays and Pensacola hearings will occur Mondays and Tuesdays.  The Open Motion Calendar will move from Thursday afternoons to Thursday mornings.  In 2006, the typical calendar will look like the following:

Please do not file the following documents with this Office:

1.  Cover Letters: Cover letters which merely state that some pleading, or other document, is "enclosed" are not needed by this office.  You can decrease the volume of paper which we process by adding the OJCC office to your certificate of service on the pleading or document itself, and foregoing the cover letter.  This should result in time and expense savings to the parties and expedite our processing of your document(s).

2.   Notices of taking deposition:  Unless you have arranged to take the deposition in this Office, please do not send this Office Notices of Taking Deposition, unless same are necessary for some purpose.  If necessary, please file them only if attached to some pleading (e.g. a motion) which explains why it is necessary to file same.

3.   Depositions:  Please do not file depositions with this office unless they are needed imminently for a proceeding.  If counsel will be attending a hearing in-person, it is preferred that counsel bring and present the deposition at the time of trial, and not before.  The only time that a deposition needs to be filed prior to a hearing is when counsel is appearing by telephone at the hearing.  In no situation is there a need to file depositions more than a week prior to the hearing for which they are submitted.  If you file a deposition(s), it should be accompanied by a pleading (notice of filing) which identifies the hearing for which it is submitted and explains why it cannot be filed at the time of hearing.

4.   Requests for production or responses to requests for production.  Unless filed in association with a motion or an order compelling discovery, there is no need to file requests or responses.  If such are filed, they should be attached to some pleading (motion) that explains the purpose of filing with this office. 

5.   Proposed Orders.  Please do not file proposed orders unless asked to do so specifically by this Office. 

6.   Multiple Copies.  Please do not file more than the original of any document or pleading unless specifically requested to file multiple.  The one exception to this is Joint Petitions, please continue to file a copy of the JP for each party, and postage paid return mail envelopes.

7.  Duplications.  If you fax a document to this office, please do not send an original which duplicates same.  This merely doubles the paper which we must process on a daily basis.  Unless there is a time-critical reason, delivery by mail or courier is preferred.  If time critical communication is necessary, emailing a pleading which you have rendered into PDF format is preferred, or facsimile is acceptable.  Please send only one or the other, rather than both.

The Florida Courts are working to insure privacy rights as electronic data storage and paperless operation becomes more prevalent.  For more information. click here.

By Order of the Deputy Chief Judge, the Offices of the Judges of Compensation Claims are a secured facility.  All persons and belongings entering the Office are suject to search.  No weapons of any description are allowed in this Office.  This includes guns, knives, swords, mace, pepper spray and all other weapons regardless of the bearer's legal right to possess and or to carry such weapon(s).  Attorneys are requested to be prepared present their Bar card and picture ID upon request. 

The 2007 Tropical Cyclone season concludes November 30, 2007.

This Office is currently monitoring no tropical storms or disturbances.  Please check this website for updates periodically.

For up-to-date related weather information, click here. 

For further information on the status of the Courts in the First Judicial Circuit of Florida, click here. 

For additional information on the status of other OJCC District offices, call (850) 487-1911.

This page will be continuously updated during any weather related situation that threatens to affect this office's operations specifically or the Florida panhandle generally.  Thank you for your patience

Updated 11.25..07 05:35 a.m..