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Bustell v. AIG Claims Service11/14/2003
ts forth no standards for deviating from the documentation, a reasonableness standard is implied. Thus, the Court must review the hours to determine if they are reasonably related to the case and if they are reasonable in relation to the work performed. Attorney fees must be limited to work reasonably connected to the case. Having reviewed Toennis' itemization of hours and his testimony at the attorney fee hearing, I find that all 477.1 hours were reasonably connected to the claimant's case and were reasonable with respect to the actual work performed. He is therefore entitled to fees for those 477.1 hours of work.
The final question is the hourly rate for Toennis' time. He urges $225 an hour. That figure is not a rate he charges clients as all his work is on a contingent fee basis. Rather, it is the amount of his contingency earnings in 2001 divided by the number of hours he worked that year. That figure does not represent a "customary and current hourly rate for legal work performed in this state." It is also a volatile figure which could dramatically change year-to-year based on his recoveries for his clients. Most importantly, it exceeds the maximum amount prescribed by the Department of Labor and Industry (Department).
A maximum fee of $75 an hour is prescribed by the Department in Rule 24.29.3802, which provides in relevant part:
24.29.3802 ATTORNEY FEE REGULATION (1) This rule is promulgated under the authority of 39-71-20339-71-203 and 39-71-61339-71-613, MCA, to implement regulation of the fees charged to claimants by attorneys in workers' compensation cases as provided in 39-71-61339-71-613, MCA.
(2) An attorney representing a claimant on a workers' compensation claim shall submit to the division within thirty days of undertaking representation of the claimant, in accordance with 39-71-61339-71-613, MCA, on forms supplied by the division, a contract of employment stating specifically the terms of the fee arrangement. An attorney substituting for another attorney previously representing a claimant must submit a new contract conforming with this rule within thirty days of undertaking representation of the claimant. The contract of employment shall be signed by the claimant and the attorney, and must be approved by the administrator of the division of workers' compensation or his designee. The administrator or his designee shall return the contract to the attorney along with a notification that the contract ham been approved or disapproved.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (7), an attorney representing a claimant on a workers' compensation claim who plans to utilize a contingent percentage fee arrangement to establish the fee with the claimant, may not charge a fee above the following amounts:
(a) For cases that have been settled without an order of the workers' compensation judge or the supreme court, twenty percent (20%) of the amount of compensation payments claimant receives due to the efforts of the attorney.
(b) For cases that go to a hearing before the workers' compensation judge or the supreme court, twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount of additional compensation payments the claimant receives from an order of the workers' compensation judge or the supreme court due to the efforts of the attorney.
(4) The fee schedule set forth in subsection (3) does not preclude the use of other attorney fee arrangements, such as the use of a fee system based on time at a reasonable hourly rate not exceeding $75.00 per hour, but the total fee charged may not exceed the schedule set forth in subsection (3) except as provided in subsection (7). When such fee arrangement is utilized, the contract of employ
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