Insurance Group Objects to Proposed Attorney Fee Hike

A proposal to increase hourly fees for both claimants’ counsel and defense attorneys will raise workers’ compensation costs in Texas by $50 million annually, an insurance group says in opposition comments. The American Insurance Association opposes the Division of Workers' Compensation's proposal to increase the 1991 attorney fee schedule by 33%. The division wants to raise attorney fees on both sides of the bar from $150 an hour to $200, pay legal assistants $65 an hour instead of $50, and raise the maximum amount that can be billed for each dispute from $2,850 to $4,200...