The Florida Supreme Court issued a long over-due ruling the other day—blowing the lid off a provision of the state’s Draconian workers’ compensation law that required attorneys’ fees to be capped at a level the court ultimately determined was “unreasonable.”
The case originated with a nurse in her late 50s named Emma Murray, who was injured when she attempted to lift a patient at the nursing home where she worked. Her employer’s insurance carrier, Mariner Health, turned down her claim, reportedly calling her injury a “pre-existing condition.” Murray sought the help of attorney Brian Sutter and won $3,244 in back wages and medical costs.
In keeping with the Florida law, this entitled Murray’s attorney to $646 for the 80 hours of work he did on her case--or about $8 per hour. Meanwhile, counsel for Mariner Health received $150-200 an hour, for a total of $16,000.
In the end, the court ruled the law was unclear since it did not include a reference to “reasonable” attorney fees, and ordered Mariner to compensate Murray’s attorney to match the fee of its own.
But the real victory was for injured Floridian workers everywhere who now stand a much better chance at getting quality legal representation, and ultimately, greater access to the fair compensation they deserve.
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