Advisory Committee Recommends Increasing Claimants' Attorney Fees

An advisory committee is recommending the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board eliminate caps on attorney fees in some cases and raise them in others as part of ongoing efforts to ensure lawyers are compensated fairly for representing injured workers. Lawmakers in 2015 enacted House Bill 2764, in part to address reports of a dwindling number of attorneys willing to help injured workers pursue claims for benefits.  Consulting firm EcoNorthwest in 2014 reported to the state’s Management-Labor Advisory Council that there were 186 members of the workers’ compensation defense...