News in Brief Issue #3: Industry and California County Court Updates

News in Brief: Gemini Legal Introduces DraftEngine to Accelerate Civil Litigation Case Velocity and Expand Profitability 

ROCKLIN, Calif., June 23, 2026 — Gemini Legal, a leading legal technology and support services provider, today announced availability of Gemini Legal DraftEngine, a specialized legal forms platform. This legal forms software for civil litigation firms is designed to recover the significant loss of staff time caused by manual, repetitive data entry, procedural form errors, and disjointed workflow.

Source: Gemini Legal Press Release

News in Brief: Industry and California County Courts

Los Angeles County Updates

Los Angeles County Clerk's Office: Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Fee Increase

Effective June 1, 2026, per the request of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the Registrar Recorder/County Clerk increased fees for the collection of the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution fee from $5 to $10. This fee adjustment applies to the recording of any real estate instrument, paper, or notice.

Source: Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office

Stanley Mosk Courthouse Implements New Department Numbering System

Effective May 4, 2026, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County transitioned to a new department numbering system at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse to enhance the court user experience and streamline navigation. Under the new intuitive system, the courtroom number matches the room number, with the first digit corresponding to the floor on which the courtroom is located. Furthermore, department email accounts were revised to reflect the new numbers (e.g., matching the new @lacourt.ca.gov domain format).

Source: Superior Court of Los Angeles County

DIR DWC Releases 2025 IMR Report

On May 19, 2026, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) released the Independent Medical Review (IMR) report for 2025. The volume of medical disputes remains high, with the Independent Medical Review Organization (IMRO) processing 201,037 applications last year—a 0.7% increase from 2024. The IMRO overturned 10.2% of Utilization Review (UR) decisions that denied treatment requests. Pharmaceutical requests accounted for 30.6% of the issues in dispute.

Source: DIR

California Ruling Expands FCRA Background Check Class Action Risk

On June 4, 2026, a California state appeals court ruled that workers can bring Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) claims in California courts without proving they suffered a concrete injury. The decision reversed a decertification order against a class action targeting a trucking company, establishing that a disclosure violation alone is sufficient to bring a claim and recover statutory damages. This creates a live compliance risk for employers, mandating that background check disclosures stand alone as a clean, single-purpose document without extraneous information.

Source: HRD America

DWC Mileage Rate Increase for Medical Travel

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced an increase in the mileage rate for medical and medical-legal travel expenses. Effective January 1, 2026, the rate increased by 2.5 cents to 72.5 cents per mile. This updated rate must be paid for travel on or after January 1, 2026, regardless of the date of injury.

Source: DIR

DWC Adopts Updates to MTUS Drug List

The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) Acting Administrative Director, Nicole Richardson, issued an order updating the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) Drug List. The update, effective April 30, 2026, is based on recent updates to the Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline.

Source: DIR

Arraignment in Major SJDB Voucher Fraud Case

The CEO of a prominent California vocational return-to-work counseling center and two co-conspirators were arraigned on 31 felony counts for an alleged kickback and forgery scheme. A California Department of Insurance investigation found the defendants allegedly pressured injured workers to sign blank documents and submitted fabricated enrollment records to illicitly deplete $6,000 to $10,000 Supplemental Job Displacement Benefits (SJDB) vouchers by billing insurers for services or schools the workers never actually attended. This high-profile enforcement highlights ongoing state efforts to eliminate predatory behavior within the voucher system, reinforcing the critical industry need for transparent, ethical, and fully compliant return-to-work services.

Source: CDI