Florida Defense Attorneys Paid Most per Claim

Workers' compensation claim costs grew significantly in Florida in the late 1990s, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The study reported that claim costs rose nearly 9.5 percent in 1998, the latest year with available data, following several years of double-digit increases. The 11.7 percent average yearly increase in Florida from 1996 to 1998 was the highest of the eight states in the WCRI study (Florida, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin). The institute said that a 13 percent jump in indemnity benefit co...