Legislative Update
Workers' Compensation Section
The Florida Bar
April 21, 2009
The 2009 session of the Florida Legislature continues in full force. Workers' compensation reform remains at the top of the legislative agenda. Specifically, reform promoted by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and the insurance industry to undo the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Murray v. Mariner Health.
The effort to reform attorney's fees began in the Florida House of Representatives. HB 903 was filed by Representative Anitere Flores (Miami). The bill deletes the word "reasonable" from Section 440.34, thus removing the ambiguity on which the Murray decision hinges. Despite the efforts of the trial bar, the first responder community, and an effort led by Republican J.C. Planas to amend the bill on the House floor, HB 903 passed and has been sent to the Florida Senate.
A bill mirroring HB 903 was filed in the Senate by Senator Garrett Richter (Naples). SB 2072 passed out of the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee, chaired by Senator Richter. Opponents of the bill were not afforded the opportunity to speak against it. The bill was then heard last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Through the efforts of a number of groups in opposition to the bill, the bill was amended in the committee. The current bill would eliminate hourly attorney's fees and the $1,500.00 medical only fee under Section 440.34, replacing them with the pre-1993 fee schedule. The bill would also allow for the payment of fees up to the amount an employer or carrier pays its attorneys on a finding that the employer or carrier denied benefits in bad faith, unreasonably delayed furnishing benefits or unreasonably increased the cost of litigation. The bill would also secure for injured workers the right to privately contract with an attorney subject to any limitations on fees imposed by the Florida Supreme Court. Lastly, the bill would forbid carriers who are required to pay fees to an injured worker's attorney from thereafter including those fees in any future rate filing.
SB 2072 proceeded to the Senate General Government Appropriations Committee yesterday, where it was passed out with one amendment. The amendment, promoted by firefighters, permits an award of hourly attorney fees in first responder claims involving toxic exposure or occupational disease. The next stop for the bill is the Senate floor.
I want to thank section chair Tuwana McMillen, chair-elect Richard Chait, section lobbyist Fausto Gomez, and the many members of the section who have given tirelessly of their time. They have taken time from their law practices and their families to represent the Section in Tallahassee.
Paul M. Anderson
Section Legislative Chair