Navigation Legal partner on House Bill 1551: ‘Cases became about the lawyers, not the insured’
Matthew Lavisky, a partner at Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, expressed concerns regarding House Bill 1551, which he claims would reinstate a litigation framework where attorneys benefit disproportionately and clients’ interests become secondary. This statement was made in a press release on March 18.
“Attorneys could recover multiple times more than their clients. Cases became about the lawyers, not the insureds,” said Lavisky. “The ‘reasonable’ hourly rate under the lodestar approach is purely theoretical because no one agreed to pay that amount. This system of lawyers determining the value of the services of lawyers led to hugely excessive ‘reasonable’ rates for run-of-the-mill litigation. Lawyers are being paid from Florida’s homeowner’s premiums an amount that a teacher or firefighter might make in six months just to testify about how much another lawyer should be awarded.”
Lavisky’s comments respond to House Bill 1551, which proposes reinstating attorney’s fee awards in property insurance disputes if the judgment exceeds the insurer’s offer. According to an analysis by Insurance Business Magazine, this provision closely mirrors the framework that existed before Florida’s Senate Bill 2A reforms. These reforms were intended to curb excessive litigation incentives. Lavisky argues that this change would return Florida to an environment where litigation was financially driven by attorneys rather than clients’ actual claims.
