D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 7, r. 7-223
Unless excused prior to the hearing, all formal hearings shall be attended by the interested parties and their representatives and any other persons as the Hearing or Attorney Examiner deems necessary and proper.
If the party requesting the hearing fails to appear, the application for Hearing shall be dismissed unless the other party objects and shows good cause why the application should not be dismissed. If the party who has not requested the hearing fails to appear, the case shall be decided on the evidence received at the hearing. Good cause for failure to appear shall be established for any reopening of the case.
The Hearing or Attorney Examiner shall inquire fully into matters at issue and shall receive in evidence the testimony of witnesses and any documents which are relevant and material to such matters. Under no circumstance shall the Memorandum of Informal Conference be admitted as evidence.
If the Hearing or Attorney Examiner believes that there is relevant and material evidence available which has not been presented at the formal hearing, the Hearing or Attorney Examiner may order the parties to acquire and submit the evidence. The Hearing or Attorney Examiner may also continue the hearing to allow the parties to develop the evidence or, at any time prior to the filing of the compensation order, reopen for receipt of the evidence.
The order in which evidence and allegations shall be presented and the procedures at the hearing generally, except as this chapter otherwise expressly provides, shall be in the discretion of the Hearing or Attorney Examiner and of the nature as to afford the parties a reasonable opportunity for a fair hearing.
All formal hearings shall be open to the public and shall be stenographically recorded for transcription.
Nothing in § 223.6 of this chapter shall preclude the interested parties from ordering, at their own expense, a transcript of the formal hearing.
The Hearing or Attorney Examiner shall issue a compensation order based upon substantial evidence in the record within twenty (20) working days after the hearing is concluded in accordance with § 21(c) of the Act [§ 36 -320(c), D.C. Code, 1981 ed.]
The Hearings and Adjudication Section shall maintain a formal hearing record which shall include all pleadings sent to the Hearings and Adjudication Section concerning the formal hearing and the claim, the testimony and the exhibits admitted into evidence during a formal hearing before a Hearing or Attorney Examiner, and the transcript of the stenographic record of the formal hearing.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 7, r. 7-223