Hardworking woman injured with two knee replacements and rating of 20%. Before the Legislative attacks by the employers in 2003, her benefits were worth 200k if not totally disabled. Under the terrible changes made by the Legislature, her benefits were worth 16k, as she wasn’t totally disabled.

We hope the First District Court of Appeals will certify the challenge straight through to the Florida Supreme Court. Our expert testified that the law in its present form is unconstitutional because it allows no benefits based on “loss of earning capacity”, which all prior versions of the Workers Compensation statute allowed. We want to change the status quo by asking the appellate courts to protect the “other 90%” who need the middle class protections of workers compensation. The Courts have to find their backbone and push back against the Legislative over reach. Judge Cueto had the vision and backbone in the Padgett order he wrote that declared the workers compensation statute unconstitutional. It is time for the appellate courts to match his courage.

Longtime nurse for local hospital group with severe back injuries but able to work in the field. Great client who did everything right under the system, had returned to work, and had maximized his time improving his job skills while recovering. Employer decided to take a hard line and terminated claimant while he was recovering from his last surgery. Glad to see recovery for the client.

The Florida Supreme Court docketed the Richardson case and labeled it “Of Great Public Importance”. Case number 14-738 was ordered to file our Initial Brief on 11/7/2014 after the Oral argument in the Castellanos case on 11/5/2014.

Retired Judge Richard Ervin helped write the challenge to the workers compensation fee caps. The insurance industry has used the fee caps as a weapon to suppress workers compensation claims while they pocket excess profits. The Initial brief was filed on 12/1/2014.

The data we put in the trial record conclusively proved the injustice of the rigid fee caps as they were used to confiscate the time, energy and talents of the claimant’s bar. The chilling effect of the fee caps caused a 60% drop in aggregate injury claims over a 10 year period, allowing the insurance industry to wage a war of attrition on the smaller claims. When a claim cannot be economically pursued, it makes the benefits given by the statute largely illusory and encourages wrongful denials by adjusters.

A level playing field will reduce litigation, because the law in it’s present form rewards insurance & employer lawyers for excessive litigation tactics against injured workers.

We are hopeful the Supreme Court will push back against the Legislative attacks on inherent judicial authority under a separation of powers approach that allows injured workers and their lawyers to be rewarded for their industry.

Wealthy uninsured contractor decided to ignore subpeonas and court ordered mediations. The Court struck his defenses and awarded $65,000 worth of lost wages, medical treatment, and over $ 36,000 worth of attorney fees and costs. Although the prosecutor refused to charge the employer with the clear crime of failing to have WC insurance, the money collected will go a long way towards satisfaction.

The adjuster in the trial had refused to offer a satisfactory doctor based upon the draconian medical provisions that the Special Interests had placed in the law. Appealed the Judge’s ruling where he was forced to follow the law as written, but used the Padgett case as part of the Constitutional challenge to ask for appellate relief from the abusive adjuster tactics. The adjuster deliberately offered doctors that he knew were unsatisfactory to the claimant just to force the injured worker to burn his onetime change. Hopefully, the appellate courts will realize how un-American it is to force workers to treat with bad doctors.