A recent Palm Beach Post story, “Is State Law Limiting Workers Comp Attorney Fees Constitutional? Fla. Supreme Court May Get Issue” reports that attorneys for a woman who suffered a back injury while working as a caretaker asked the Florida Supreme Court this month to rule on the constitutionality of a state law that places strict limits on attorney fees. The 1st District Court of Appeals in March upheld limits on a Port Charlotte case – a case that amounted to only $6.84 an hour. In a brief to the Supreme Court, attorneys for the injured Port Charlotte worker, Jennifer Kauffman, said the fee limits “may severely impair, if not eliminate, the ability of claimants to obtain the assistance of counsel.”
The law bases attorneys’ fees on the amount of benefits that are awarded to an injured worker. Fees are 20 percent of the first $5,000 in benefits; 15 percent of the next $5,000 in benefits; and either 10 percent or 5 percent of additional benefits, depending on the length of time involved. The law only applies to plaintiffs' fees. Such fee limits do not apply to defense lawyers who represent employers or their insurance companies.
In the Port Charlotte case, a judge ruled that Kauffman should receive $3,417 in benefits after a dispute with her employer and its insurance company. Kauffman’s lawyers reported working 100 hours on the case, but the fee limits restricted the amount they could be paid to $684 – or only $6.84 an hour. While the judge in the case awarded that amount, he also wrote that reasonable fees would be $250 an hour, or $25.000.