RICHARD FORD, PETITIONER,
v.
CUNNINGHAM-LIMP COMPANY, TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY, AND THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION, RESPONDENTS
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The Florida Supreme Court reviewed a workers' compensation case where an employee sought additional attorney's fees after his employer voluntarily increased his disability classification from temporary total to permanent total. The Court held that the attorney's fees were warranted because the increased award resulted at least in part from the claimant's attorney's efforts in the prior hearing.
The Court held that the additional attorney's fees in the amount of $1,500 were properly awarded because the substantially increased award, although volunteered by the employer-carrier, was at least in part the direct result of the efforts and professional acumen of the claimant's attorneys who had sustained the claimant's right of recovery in the earlier hearing.
“the evidence supports the conclusion and finding of the deputy commissioner that the substantially increased award, although volunteered and consented to by the employer-carrier, was at least in part the direct result of the efforts and professional acumen of the claimant's attorneys who had sustained the claimant's right of recovery in the earlier hearing”
The Court's holding that attorney's fees are warranted when the increased award results from the attorney's prior efforts, even if the increase is voluntary.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRichard Ford suffered an accidental work injury on August 12, 1959. His claim was accepted and he received compensation for temporary total and perman…
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By petition for writ of certiorari we have for review an order of the Florida Industrial Commission bearing date February 1, 1967.
The claimant, Richard Ford, received an accidental injury on August 12, 1959. The claim was accepted as compensable and the employee was paid compensation for temporary total disability and permanent partial disability continuously until January 20, 1965. Notice of termination was given by the employer for the reason that payment had been made based on the 25% disability rating of the left leg. On February 19th, 1965, claim was filed requesting resumption of the payment of compensation for temporary total disability and further benefits. An order was then entered on May 12, 1965, finding that claimant was temporarily and totally disabled since the date of the accident and had not yet reached maximum medical improvement. The order required the employer and carrier to pay compensation for temporary total disability until maximum medical recovery had been reached and awarded an attorneys’ fee in the sum of Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00). Thereafter, in October of 1965, the employer, on its own volition, changed the designation from temporary total to permanent total disability. The claimant’s attorney then filed a claim for additional attorneys’ fees and, upon hearing, the deputy commissioner ordered the employer to pay compensation for permanent total disability from October, 1965, and also to pay a supplemental attorneys’ fees in the amount of $1,500.00.
The employer and carrier filed their application for review, urging that the deputy commissioner erred in awarding an additional attorneys’ fee, inasmuch as a fee in the amount of $400.00 had been awarded and accepted after the original claim, and that the subsequent award of compensation was voluntary and not as a result of the efforts of the attorneys for claimant. The Full Commission affirmed the award of compensation for permanent total disability, but reversed the award of attorneys’ fees.
We have measured the liability of the cause for an additional attorneys’ fee against the rules announced in Boyd v. Southeastern Utilities Service Co., Fla. 1965, 172 So.2d 817, and in Creighton v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., Fla.1966, 190 So.2d 762, and find that the evidence supports the conclusion and finding of the deputy commissioner that the substantially increased award, although volunteered and consented to by the employer-carrier, was at least in part the direct result of the efforts and professional acumen of the claimant’s attorneys who had sustained the claimant’s right of recovery in the earlier hearing, and it was therefore error for the Full Commission to disturb the award made by the deputy commissioner.
Accordingly, that portion of the order of the Full Commission which reverses the allowance of attorneys’ fees in the amount of $1,500 is quashed with directions that the award of compensation and fees made by the deputy commissioner be affirmed.
It is so ordered.
CALDWELL, C. J., and THOMAS, THORNAL and ERVIN, JJ., concur.
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Int'l Paper Co. v. McKINNEY, 384 So. 2d 645 (Fla. 1980)…s bound to pay an attorney’s fee on all subsequent benefits awarded to claimant, even when the subsequent benefits are paid voluntarily and timely. In awarding attorneys’ fees, the judge of industrial claims relied upon Ford v. Cunningham-Limp Co., 203 So. 2d 326 (Fla.1967). In Ford, the claimant sustained a compen-sable accident on August 12, 1959. The employer voluntarily paid temporary total and permanent partial benefits until January 20, 1965. On February 19, 1965, claimant filed a claim requesting resu…
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Barr v. Pantry Pride, 518 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…ward of temporary total disability. In all due respect to claimant’s argument, the supreme court in International Paper Co. v. McKinney implicitly over [*1316] ruled Boyd when it receded from its earlier decision in Ford v. Cunningham-Limp Company, 203 So. 2d 326 (Fla.1967), which in turn expressly relied on Boyd for its holding. See also Moss v. Keller Industries, Inc., 393 So. 2d 574 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). In McKinney, the supreme court said: Stated simply, the factual situation is as follows: An employer i…
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Samurai OF THE Falls, Inc. v. Dong Jo SUL, 509 So. 2d 359 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…ing. Three years later, in June 1975, the E/C was notified that claimant was MMI and voluntarily accepted him as PTD. The JIC awarded a fee based on the permanent benefits. The International claimant relied on appeal on Ford v. Cunningham-Limp Co., 203 So. 2d 326 (Fla.1967). In Ford, the E/C had voluntarily paid TTD and wage-loss from the 1959 accident until January 1965. In February 1965 a claim was filed seeking resumption of TTD, and in May 1965, TTD was ordered resumed. In October 1965, the E/C began vol…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Creighton v. Sears, 190 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 1966)
- Boyd v. Se. Utils. Serv. Co., 172 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 1965)