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Committee adopts sunset amendment and advances workers' comp attorney-fee clarification
Summary
Chairman Lafferty’s amendment to clarify when trial courts can award attorneys’ fees at expedited hearings was approved with a five-year sunset; the committee passed the bill to calendar and rules to restore trial-court fee authority in certain expedited cases.
Chairman Lafferty described amendments to a workers’ compensation bill that clarify when trial courts may award attorneys’ fees and expenses at the expedited hearing phase if an employer unreasonably denies or delays benefits later found to be owed. Former chairman Boyd moved a companion amendment to add a sunset (2030) for review; the committee approved the sunset language and then voted to advance the bill.
Supporters said the change restores the trial court’s ability to award fees at an earlier stage without changing benefit levels or fee caps; critics cautioned against routine sunsetting of attorney-fee rules, but the committee adopted the sunset and passed the amended bill 21-0 to calendar and rules.
