Update on attorney fee bill implementation

The Workers' Compensation Board continues rulemaking for House Bill 2764 (2015 attorney fees bill) implementation. An advisory committee met March 14 and 21 to provide advice to the board on:

• A proposal to include claimant's attorney's legal assistants' time and the contingent nature of the practice of workers' comp law when assessing a reasonable attorney fee
• A proposal to create an administrative rule to implement a voluntary process to bifurcate the determination of a reasonable assessed attorney fee from the merits of the case
• The thresholds for out-of-compensation attorney fee
• A biennial review of all attorney fee schedules

Watch for updates on these proposals in the next edition of Comp Quotes.