How Should Paralegal Expenses Be Reimbursed

The Question: Should paralegal expenses be reimbursed to the attorney as litigation expenses or are they subsumed within attorney’s fees?

Here’s What Happened
Claimant’s attorneys challenged the order of a Florida Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) denying reimbursement for paralegal costs in claimant’s action against an employer and insurer. The attorneys acknowledged the JCC had the judicial power to review and pass upon the issue of attorney’s fees, but argued the JCC had no jurisdiction to pass upon the issue of reimbursement of costs, where such reimbursement was provided for in a retainer agreement between the attorneys and the claimant.

Here’s How the Court Ruled
In Demedrano v. Labor Finders of the Treasure Coast, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 5009 (Fla. 1st DCA May 13, 2009), the First District Court of Appeals held that because § 440.34(1), Fla. Stat. (2003) authorized the JCC to do whatever was necessary to insure that a fee in excess of the fee schedule was not approved, the JCC had jurisdiction to determine if the amounts claimant’s attorneys characterized as costs should have been included within the attorney’s fee. The JCC correctly concluded the charges for paralegal time were compensated within the statutory fee schedule and were not recoverable from claimant as a separate cost. Section 440.34(1) mandated that the retainer agreement not provide for compensation as to fees and costs in excess of the amount allowed under the section. A retainer agreement in a workers’ compensation matter had to comply with both §§ 440.34 and 57.104, Fla. Stat. Since paralegal time fell within the ambit of attorney time, the attorney fee paid as a part of the lump sum settlement was appropriately based on the fee schedule mandated by the statute and included paralegal time within the award of attorney time.
See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law §§ 133.03, 133.04.

Author: Tom Robinson, J.D.
Tom Robinson, J.D. is the primary upkeep writer for Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis) and Larson’s Workers’ Compensation, Desk Edition (LexisNexis). He is a contributing writer for California Compensation Cases (LexisNexis) and Benefits Review Board – Longshore Reporter(LexisNexis), and is a contributing author to New York Workers’ Compensation Handbook(LexisNexis). Attorney Robinson is an authority in the area of workers’ compensation and we are happy to have him as a Guest Contributor to Workers’ Comp Kit Blog. Tom can be reached at: compwriter@gmail.com.
http://law.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/Workers-Compensation

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