Trial lawyers and insurers spar over lifting $1,500 cap on workers’ comp litigation costs

The House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards took testimony Feb. 12 on House Bill 2799, which would remove a current $1,500 cap on “reasonable litigation costs, expenses and attorney fees” that a prevailing claimant may recover in some workers’ compensation disputes.

Giovanna Patrick of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) testified that the current $1,500 cap — set two decades ago — often leaves injured workers unable to pay for medical opinions and other evidence necessary to prove entitlement to benefits. OTLA said many medical reports and physicians’ time now cost well above the statutory cap and that expanding reimbursement would allow claimants to obtain necessary medical evidence without being out of pocket.

OTLA indicated the version before the committee was a work in progress. The association said it submitted a dash‑1 amendment to set a proposed new cap at $7,500 while preserving an “extraordinary circumstances” standard for amounts above that level; OTLA told the committee it continued to negotiate language with the Management‑Labor Advisory Committee (MLAC) and other stakeholders to narrow the scope of reimbursable disputes and avoid unintended changes to existing case law.

Representatives from SAIF Corporation told the committee they were engaged in ongoing, collaborative conversations with OTLA and MLAC. Ivo Grama, government relations director for SAIF Corporation, said SAIF does not oppose discussing higher limits, but warned the bill as drafted was too broad in defining which disputes would generate reimbursable costs. Elaine Schueller, assistant general counsel for SAIF, said the parties are discussing ways to identify which disputes should qualify and to avoid reimbursing costs unrelated to the issue on which the claimant prevailed.

Committee members asked how frequently costs exceed the $1,500 cap and whether the cap still reflected current practice. SAIF representatives said decisions finding “extraordinary circumstances” have been rare: in the past decade there were four cases before the Workers’ Compensation Board that addressed costs at the board level, one of which was appealed to the Court of Appeals. Witnesses said reported costs in sample files ranged from the low hundreds to several thousand dollars depending on the case.

No vote was taken; witnesses said MLAC would continue deliberations and may present refined bill language to the committee after stakeholders reach consensus.