At the Florida Workers' Compensation Forum (WCCP) in April, several speakers addressed the unique challenges emerging from the processing and defense of claims on behalf of some of Florida's largest employers and workers' compensation service providers.
Almost immediately following the conference came the Florida Supreme Court's reversal of Castellanos v. Next Door (2009). Then two months later, the court ruled another critical decision unconstitutional in Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg (2013). Clearly, the ramifications of these decisions represent the most significant challenges faced by the Florida workers' compensation industry since Aguilera v. Inservices, Inc. (1999), which led to the sweeping reforms of 2003. All indications from the legislature suggest that the industry at large is on the cusp of a similar seismic shift in 2017.
The Castellanos decision effectively removes the cap that has been in place since 2009 for applicant attorneys' fees in all Florida workers' compensation cases. Not surprisingly, following this development, actuaries and auditors alike universally concur in reporting that their internal metrics reflect an alarming rise in petitions for benefits across the board, now a year removed from Castellanos.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
