"My case was dismissed."

First: find out which kind it was

Look at the order itself. The two words that matter are "with prejudice" or "without prejudice."

Without prejudice means the case was closed but the claim was not decided. Subject to the statute of limitations, it can generally be refiled.

With prejudice means it was resolved against you and refiling is not available. It is far less common, and it is the one that needs immediate attention.

If you cannot tell, or you never received the order at all, that itself is significant — you cannot be defaulted on notice you never got.

Why it usually happened

Inactivity. Cases that sit without a Declaration of Readiness or any activity get dismissed administratively. This is the most common reason by a wide margin, and it frequently happens to people who thought their case was simply waiting.

Missing a hearing. A failure to appear can produce a dismissal or an adverse order.

A prior attorney who stopped working the file and did not tell you. This is more common than it should be. If you want to change lawyers.

The routes back in — and their clocks

Petition for reconsideration: 20 days from service of a final order. This is short and it is jurisdictional. Add five days if it was served by mail within California.

Note for 2026 — this rule changed, and most published material has not caught up. Labor Code § 5909 deems a petition for reconsideration denied unless the Appeals Board acts within 60 days. Since July 2, 2024, under AB 171 (Stats. 2024, ch. 52), those 60 days run from the date a trial judge transmits the case to the Board. That version was written to sunset on July 1, 2026 and hand the trigger back to the date of filing. It never did: SB 171 (Stats. 2026, ch. 83), chaptered July 13, 2026, deleted the sunset and repealed the filing-trigger version. Transmittal is the later trigger, so a petition is deemed denied later than under the reversion most articles announced. The full timeline.

Petition to reopen or set aside. The Appeals Board has continuing jurisdiction under §§ 5803 and 5804, generally within five years of the date of injury — and that five years runs from the injury, not from the dismissal.

Refiling. Where the dismissal was without prejudice, a new Application may be available if the statute of limitations under § 5405 has not run. Remember that any benefit ever furnished restarts that clock.

What to do in the next few days

Get the order. Call the district office, or check EAMS. You need the actual document and its service date.

Note the date of injury, because the five-year window under § 5410 runs from it. Run your dates.

Gather what you have — medical records, prior filings, any correspondence.

And call someone. A dismissal is one of the few situations in this system where the difference between acting this week and acting next month is the whole outcome. There is no charge for the conversation.