$8.9 Million Buys a Lot of Envy
Some time ago this blog posted the story of the highest workers’ compensation award ever recorded. $8.9 million dollars were awarded to applicant, and, of course, a portion of that would go to his attorney as well. While adjusters cringe and defense lawyers glare angrily at that figure, some applicants’ attorneys no doubt had other reactions. Some became motivated to get that much money for their clients; some became frustrated that they couldn’t generate such a fee for themselves… and some elected to go one step further.
Dearest readers, do try to bear with your humble blogger as he avoids naming names. Although he does not hesitate to rightly name criminal defendants and lien claimants sanctioned by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, this is a slightly different matter and the names to be named are only guilty of the crime of being applicants’ attorneys. Although such a crime deserves punishment indeed, usually taking the form of taunting and ridicule on this blog, the naming of names may be a step too far.
It appears that one of the then-partners of the attorney representing the applicant in the above-referenced case has been claiming that she jointly handled the matter and provided a “significant role” in the representation. This was news to the disabled client and his father, who claimed to never have met her until after the conclusion of the representation. Although she received her share of the proceeds as a former partner, she has been attempting to promote her new practice by telling people that she was working on the case as well.
When the two former partners could not see eye-to-eye in private or on the pages of the trade publications covering the story, lawyers were retained and lawsuits were filed. The former partner sued the attorney on the case to enjoin the alleged libel and slander interfering with her version of the truth.
A Superior Court judge granted the defendant’s Anti-SLAPP motion, and so the truth will continue to be told.
As some of my readers may know, your humble blogger was once a humble associate in a workers’ compensation defense firm before becoming a sole practitioner. In the spirit of this story, he would like to claim credit for a “significant role” in every noteworthy case handled by that firm in its multi-decade history, even those occurring before his birth. No doubt the anticipation that the world would one day be graced with your humble blogger’s presence motivated the firm to even more zealous representation.