Workers' comp case management software: a buyer's guide for California applicant firms

Workers' comp case management software has to do things a personal injury system never sees: hold an ADJ number and a list of body parts, track TD paid against TD owed, run a QME panel on statutory deadlines, chase UR and IMR, and get documents into EAMS. This guide is for managing partners, administrators and case managers at California applicant firms choosing a system. It covers what to require, what to ask, how vendors price and where the main options fit, including ours.

What a WC system has to hold

At minimum, each case needs:

• The ADJ number, employer, claims administrator and their UANs as EAMS has them.
• Date of injury, specific or cumulative trauma, and every body part claimed, accepted or denied.
• A benefits ledger: TD periods, rates, payments, PD advances and EDD payments.
• Treatment requests, with each UR decision, its service date and the IMR deadline.
• The med-legal process: objections, panel, strikes, appointment, records served and reports.
• Hearings, declarations of readiness and WCAB filings.
• Liens, with filing dates, fees and status.
• Settlement documents and the fee approved under Labor Code 4906.

If a system stores these only in free-text notes, every report and every deadline depends on someone reading the notes.

Requirements and the questions to ask

Filing: decide this early

EAMS accepts filings three ways: JET File for high-volume filers, e-forms for smaller filers, and OCR paper forms. If your case management system doesn't file, you'll keep a separate filing vendor or file e-forms by hand. The DWC publishes a list of authorized JET File vendors and says it doesn't endorse any of them. Our EAMS and JET File guide covers the options.

The main options

Vendor details, with sources, are in our roundup of AI for workers' comp attorneys and our comparisons with MerusCase, SmartAdvocate and Amber Legal.

Pricing models

WC economics shape what software a firm can afford. Fees are approved by the WCAB under Labor Code 4906, so revenue per case is usually lower than in personal injury, and firms run on volume.

• Per seat per month is common in case management. It is predictable but grows with staff, not cases.
• Custom or quote-only pricing is common for configurable platforms and often includes implementation fees.
• Per case pricing ties cost to cases opened. Check what counts as a case and whether reopened cases count again.
• AI usage may be bundled, metered or sold as add-ons. Ask for the price of a typical records summary and a typical letter.

Our guide to per-case vs per-seat pricing works through the math, and the case management cost calculator lets you try your own numbers.

Running a useful demo

Bring two or three of your own closed WC files and ask the vendor to:

1. Open a case from an Application for Adjudication and show the ADJ number, parties and body parts.
2. Record a UR denial and show the IMR deadline it creates.
3. Show TD owed vs paid from a wage statement and benefit printout.
4. Walk a QME panel from request to report, with each deadline.
5. Produce a QME cover letter or an objection letter from the file.
6. File, or show how you'd file, a DOR in EAMS.
7. Show what the client sees when they ask where their check is.

Our switching guide covers migration planning.

Red flags in a WC demo

• WC fields live only in notes or a generic custom-field tab.
• Deadlines are entered by hand instead of created from events.
• The vendor can't say whether it reads scanned records.
• AI summaries don't cite the page they came from.
• EAMS filing means "export a PDF and upload it yourself", without saying so.
• No BAA, or no clear answer on where data and models are hosted.
• Migration is quoted as a fee with no plan for checking the result.
• Pricing depends on add-ons that only appear in the contract.

None of these rules a product out on its own. They tell you where to dig.

Where PlaintiffStack fits

PlaintiffStack's workers' comp setup gives each case California phases and pages for benefits, body parts, authorizations, med-legal, WCAB and liens. Its case tools run a benefits audit, draft a QME cover letter and records index, and draft WCAB petitions, and morning checks flag certified disability with no payment, IMR deadlines after a UR denial and records due to the QME. AI proposes and a person accepts.

It doesn't e-file with EAMS, rate PD or read scanned records yet, so a WC firm will still need a filing method and a plan for scans. It costs $250 per case with every app included and no monthly fee; AI usage is billed separately. PlaintiffStack moves your cases, contacts and documents from your current system and checks the result with you, and security covers the BAA and hosting.