Case Law Update – Registration and Bonding Requirements for Photocopy Services: Cornejo v. Younique Caf, Inc., Zenith Insurance

SB 863 required that copy services be registered and bonded as professional photocopiers under Business & Professions (B&P) Code §22450 and §22455, though B&P Code 22451(b) exempts a “member of the State Bar or his or her employees, agents, or independent contractors” from the registration requirements. Copy services operating in California workers’ compensation have taken the position that when they receive a subpoena for records, they become agents of the attorney, and are thus exempt from the bonding and registration requirements. In an en banc decision issued last week in Cornejo v. Younique Cafe, Inc., Zenith Insurance, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board confirmed that position.

Rogelio Cornejo through his attorney filed two Applications for Adjudication of Claim, which were jointly settled via a Compromise & Release agreement in which the defendant agreed to “pay, adjust or litigate any and all liens filed according to Labor Code §4903.5, reserving any and all-defenses, with the WCAB retaining jurisdiction in the event of a dispute.” 

In one of the cases, Western Imaging Services (WIS) filed a $1,585.56 lien for copy services. At the time of the lien filing WIS was not registered and bonded, though by the time the case was decided, it had registered and posted the required bond.  The workers’ compensation judge, however, disallowed the WIS lien claim, finding that “Business and Professions Code Section 22451 did not exempt lien claimant Western Imaging Services from registration and bonding pursuant to Sections 22450 and 22455.” 

Upon appeal, the WCAB reversed that ruling in an en banc decision, holding that the B&P Code requirements do not apply to a lien claimant seeking to recover copy service fees that are med-legal expenses under LC §4620(a) when the lien claimant is an agent and/or independent contractor of a member of the State Bar at the time the documents are photocopied.  Therefore, if a lien claimant makes an unrebutted prima facie showing that it is an agent and/or independent contractor of a member of the State Bar at the time the documents are photocopied, no proof of compliance with the registration and bonding requirements is necessary.  The decision virtually eliminates the requirement that copy services register and post a bond, nullifying that aspect of SB 863. 

To read the Appeals Board’s December 22 en banc decision in Cornejo v. Younique Café, Inc., Zenith Insurance, click here.