Hall Booth Smith, P.C.

In the recent case of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Robert A. Lee, et al., Case No.: 6D2023-2377, the Florida Court of Appeals ruled that a workers’ compensation carrier’s subrogation lien should be calculated following a third-party settlement on the date of equitable distribution rather than the actual date of the third-party settlement.

CMS has clarified its plans to amend Section 111 relating to workers’ compensation settlements, announcing its plan to change its TPOC under Section 11 and increase the CMP to be imposed on reporting entities.

Workers’ compensation is, at its core, one of the more state-specific areas of the law. Each state legislates its own statutes and regulations and operates its own administrative body, often very differently…

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. In Florida, a failure by an employer/carrier to promptly grant an employee’s change of physician deprives the employer/carrier of the right to select the doctor, as once again, Florida courts have been called upon to address the “one-time change” provision of F.S. 440.13(2)(f) in the case of Andrews v.

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The Employee, in the case of Noa v. City of Aventura and Florida League of Cities, appealed an Order of the judge of compensation claims (JCC) denying an increase in her average weekly wage (AWW).  The Employee contended she was entitled to include a pro rata share of her

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The Court of Appeal was asked to again  interpret Section 440.093(3) Fla. Stat. concerning entitlement to temporary indemnity benefits based upon a mental injury arising out of a workers’ compensation accident in the case of Le’Tavia Jones v. State of Florida, Dept. of Corrections, and Div. of Risk Management, 1D20-1741

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The First District Court of Appeal in the case of Patrick Sean Jones v. Grace Health Care, ______ So.2d ______, (1D19-1684, June 30, 2021) was presented with the question of whether an employer/carrier should be required to pay for an evaluation for a referral for medical marijuana.  The case

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The First District Court of Appeal in the recent case of N. Hannoush Jewelers, Inc. v. Bly, 1D20-2432, (Fla. 1st DCA June 30, 2021) addressed the effect of an employee’s receipt of unemployment compensation benefits (UC) on any award of temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits.  The injured worker sought

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. An employer/carrier must aggressively pursue obtaining an appointment with the newly authorized physician or risk having the injured worker select the alternate physician.  While we do not know what period of time is acceptable, we know that taking longer than 50 days from the request for a physician to

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. Circuit court judges in Florida have the authority to require provision of benefits ordered by a jcc but which are found to be willfully withheld.  Trial courts can use a Rule Nisi proceeding to not only order the provision of the benefit being denied, but also impose a monetary

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The case of Stalwart Films, LLC v. Bernecker, 855 S.E.2d 120 (2021) involved a wrongful death action brought by a stunt performer’s family against the film production company and television show producer alleging negligence arising from his fatal fall during the filming of a television show.  The State Court

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The case of Stalwart Films, LLC v. Bernecker, 855 S.E.2d 120 (2021) involved a wrongful death action brought by a stunt performer’s family against the film production company and television show producer alleging negligence arising from his fatal fall during the filming of a television show.  The State Court

Written by: Rayford Taylor, Esq. The First District Court of Appeal recently issued an opinion in the case of Dennis F. Scott v. James A. Jones Construction Co. v. Central Florida Siding Pros, LLC, et al., Case No. 1D20-689 (Fla. 1st DCA March 16, 2021).  While the instant case did not create any new law,

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor Esq. The Florida Legislature began its annual session on March 2, 2021 and will conclude on April 30, 2021, absent any extensions.  There have been three bills introduced thus far which seeks to amend Chapter 440 Fla. Stat., which is Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Statute. Senate Bill 1458 and House Bill

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. Georgia employers are generally aware they must purchase and maintain workers’ compensation insurance to operate within the state. Those employers obtain coverage for themselves and their employees, but often do not pay attention to the types of coverages included in a workers’ compensation and employer’s liability insurance policy. This

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA) issued an opinion in the case of Julio Sanchez v. Yellow Transportation/Gallagher Bassett, which held the Claimant did not have to establish the workplace accident was the major contributing cause (MCC) for requested treatment.  The Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) denied

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. The First District Court of Appeal (First District) in City of Bartow v. Flores, 1D18-1927 (May 29, 2020) has certified a question of great public importance to the Florida Supreme Court on the issue of when a workers’ compensation carrier has “provided” an alternate physician pursuant to F.S. 440.13(2)(f). 

Written by: Rayford Taylor, Esq.  It has been suggested that if an employee cannot obtain workers’ compensation benefits because of COVID-19, that employee might sue the employer under the employer’s liability portion of a workers’ compensation policy. For purposes of this discussion, workers’ compensation policies essentially consist of two parts.  Part One, known as Workers’

Written by: Rayford H. Taylor, Esq. Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, has issued Directive 2020-05 to provide workers’ compensation coverage to “frontline state employees” who contract COVID-19.  Florida’s Risk Management Department provides workers’ compensation coverage to state employees.  The Risk Management Department will now have to provide workers’ compensation coverage to such workers who

Written by: Rayford Taylor, Esq. Teresita DeJesus Abreu v. Riverland Elementary School and Broward County School Board, So.3d (Fla. 1st DCA June 18, 2019). In 2015, the Claimant injured her shoulder while at work.  The Employer/Carrier accepted compensability of the accident and authorized treatment.  The treating doctor performed an arthroscopic shoulder surgery to address a partial

By: Rayford Taylor, Esq. On February 26, 2019, The Georgia Court of Appeals in Daniel v. Bremen-Bowdon Investment Co. ruled that an employee injured while on a regularly scheduled lunch break is not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits under the ingress and egress rule. At the time of the incident, Ms. Daniel was employed as

ATLANTA – Hall Booth Smith, P.C. announces the opening of an office in Jacksonville, Florida, the firm’s 13th office in the Southeast and second in Florida. The new office, to be co-managed by J. Brent Allen and Duke Regan, also expands the firm’s industry-leading medical malpractice practice. Joining Allen and Regan, both civil trial lawyers, are partner Bill Fuller, of