Businesses hail workers’-comp legal fee cap
Business interests hailed Gov. Charlie Crist’s signing Friday of a bill that will undo a court ruling and restore caps on fees for lawyers who represent workers in compensation appeals for on-the-job injuries.
Trial lawyers, though, said the new law eventually will lead to another legal challenge because it removes an existing provision saying those fees should be “reasonable.”
The Florida Supreme Court cited the reasonableness requirement when it struck down the fee limits last year. Employers said the law will lower the premiums they pay for workers’ compensation insurance.
Florida’s rates were among the nation’s highest until 2003 when the Legislature tightened the fee limits, which do not apply to lawyers who represent insurance companies and employers.
– ASSOCIATED PRESS