Navigation Partner of Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP: HB 1551 ‘takes away a tried and true mechanism’
Matthew Lavisky, a partner at Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, said House Bill 1551 reinstates excessive attorney fees and undermines previous insurance litigation reforms.
“We have experts making $86,000 for testifying as to what another lawyer ought to make for suing an insurance company,” said Lavisky. “There was already a proposal for settlement mechanism… This bill takes away a tried and true mechanism. It purports to adopt a prevailing party standard… but defines it differently than Florida common la. The amount of fees that are being recovered, up to $1,000 an hour is what Floridians make in a week.”
According to Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig, Florida House Bill 1551 (HB1551) is a legislative measure aimed at reforming attorney fee awards in insurance litigation to promote fairness and reduce unnecessary lawsuits. The bill seeks to address concerns about the current legal landscape, where experts have reportedly been compensated up to $86,000 for testifying on appropriate attorney fees in insurance cases. Such high expert fees have raised questions about the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the existing system, particularly for insurance models that prioritize lean operations, such as reciprocal insurance exchanges.
