Fla. Bill To Cap Comp Attorney Fees Passes

NU Online News Service, May 4, 3:58 p.m. EDT

The Florida Legislature has given final passage to a bill reinstating an attorneys' fee cap in workers' compensation cases in response to a State Supreme Court ruling that an existing fee restriction was unenforceable.

The bill, HB903, states, "Any attorney's fee approved by a judge of compensation claims for benefits secured on behalf of a claimant must be equal to 20 percent of the first $5,000 of the amount of the benefits secured, 15 percent of the next $5,000 of the amount of the benefits secured, 10 percent of the remaining amount of the benefits secured, to be provided during the first 10 years after the date the claim is filed, and 5 percent of the benefits secured after 10 years."

The cap had been part of the state's 2003 reforms to its workers' compensation system. But in October 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the legislation was unclear. The court found that the fee cap schedule, outlined in one section of the statute, conflicted with other statutory language authorizing reasonable attorney fees.

In the court case, Murray v. Mariners Health/ACE USA, the court noted that the attorney fees of $684.84 initially awarded equates to an hourly rate of $8.11. The court stated, "It is obvious, as demonstrated by the present case, that applying the formula in all cases will not result in the determination of reasonable attorney fees in all cases.

"In some circumstances, applying the formula will result in inadequate fees, and in some circumstances, applying the formula will result in excessive fees."

The bill, which was sent to Gov. Charlie Crist for his signature, states a judge "may approve an alternative attorney's fee not to exceed $1,500 only once per accident, based on a maximum hourly rate of $150 per hour, if the judge of compensation claims expressly finds that the attorney's fee amount provided for [by the bill's formula], based on benefits secured, fails to fairly compensate the attorney for disputed medical-only claims…and the circumstances of the particular case warrant such action."

In a statement, the American Insurance Association (AIA) said the bill passed despite strong trial bar opposition. The AIA added that if the bill had not passed, workers' comp rates would have increased by 6.4 percent effective April 1.