Florida Injury Attorneys Blog
On 4-28-16, the Florida Supreme Court in the case of Castellanos v Next Door Company SC 13-2082 declared Florida Statute 440.34 unconstitutional because it violated the Constitutional due process right to the courts for the injured workers. The constitutional violation was based on the failure of that statute to allow claimants’ attorneys to obtain a reasonable attorney fee for litigating and obtaining benefits under the Florida Workers Compensation Act. This is a victory for the injured workers as their attorneys can now receive reasonable compensation for obtaining needed benefits for the injured workers.
This firm has always been dedicated to protect the rights of the injured person. Angel Kirkconnell at this firm has litigated tirelessly to help the injured worker. Now with the advent the ability of attorneys to get paid, this firm can give meaningful help to achieve benefits for those injured in the line of work.
We want to congratulate the fine attorneys who litigated this case in particular Mark Touby and Richard Sicking. The Supreme Court spent two years reviewing this case before rendering its well thought out 55 page decision. No less than 18 cases were pending before the Florida Supreme Court on the same issue where attorneys were receiving hourly fees of $1.58 as in Castellanos, $19.44 per hour in Richardson v Aramark, $50.44 per hour in Pfeffer v Labor Ready, and $13.28 per hour in Diaz v Palmetto General.
Below is the link for the full decision:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2016/sc13-2082.pdf