Florida Signs Bill to Cap Legal Fees in Workers Comp Cases

Staff Writer, May 29, 2009

The governor of Florida, Charlie Crist recently signed a bill into law that will limit the amount that lawyers can charge their clients for workers’ compensation cases. The legislation limits the lawyers’ fees to only a certain percentage of the settlement or judgment and does not allow them to charge hourly rates.

In the past, Florida has had one of the highest rates that lawyers were able to charge for workers’ compensation cases. This dramatically affected injured workers, because many were not able to afford the “up front” costs of a lawsuit against their employers.

Though many have heralded this bill as a much-needed change to the system, others are worried that the cut in fees will drive lawyers away from the cases. No longer will they want to take on a job where they will only earn a fraction of what they could once charge. This has caused some to fear that adequate legal representation in workers’ compensation cases will now be a challenge to find.