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Committee substitute advances compromise to raise workers’ compensation attorney fees and discovery advances
Summary
After negotiations among insurers, employers and workers’ representatives, the committee advanced a substitute to House Bill 66 that raises the statutory cap on attorneys’ fees and increases the amount insurers must advance for discovery; opponents representing chambers warned of cost pressure on small businesses.
The House Judiciary Committee considered and advanced a committee substitute to House Bill 66, a negotiated package that raises caps on attorneys’ fees and increases discovery-advance amounts in New Mexico workers’ compensation cases.
Representative Pamela Herndon presented the substitute as the product of a multi‑stakeholder task force that studied attorney supply and case data. Ben Sherman, a workers’ compensation attorney who participated in the task force, said the changes aim to address an access‑to‑justice problem: an aging and limited pool of attorneys practicing workers’ compensation in the state.
Under the substitute, the statutory cap on attorney fees would increase from $22,500 (the 2013 level) toward a phased schedule that lifts the cap and then triggers an advisory review by the state council overseeing workers’ compensation. The bill also raises the amount employers/insurers must advance for discovery (commonly used to cover deposition costs) in a phased manner; the substitute sets a higher immediate amount and smaller scheduled increases, then delegates review to the advisory council.
Business groups including the Gallup‑McKinley County Chamber and the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber opposed the change. They warned higher attorney-fee caps and larger discovery advances would raise insurance premiums for employers and increase operating costs for small businesses. Chamber representatives asked the committee to preserve the current structure and cited the General Services Department’s fiscal-analysis concerns.
Supporters including workers’ advocates, the workers’ compensation administration, and attorney practitioners said the cap is outdated and discourages lawyers from taking workers’ cases; practitioners testified there are very few active workers’ compensation attorneys outside Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Advocates argued raising the fee cap and discovery advance will help injured workers obtain representation and ensure continued access to medical evidence.
The committee voted the substitute out of committee. The roll call recorded a recommendation that the committee substitute do pass.
