NJ Attorneys Get 5% Contingency Fee Bump

New Jersey on Thursday raised the attorney fee cap in workers’ compensation cases to 25% from 20%
The 20% fee cap failed to account for additional duties that workers’ compensation attorneys are required to handle since the cap’s establishment in 1927, according to a statement from Acting Governor Nicholas Scutari.
Scutari also maintains an active workers compensation and personal injury law firm.
“The 5% increase acknowledges the additional workload of New Jersey’s contingency attorneys without overburdening workers battling illness or injury with legal expenses” the statement said.
The primary sponsors of the legislation were State Sen. Joseph Lagana and Assemblymen Anthony Verrelli and Robert Karabinchak.
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The recent detailed overview of workers’ compensation injuries published by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) offers important indicators for claims monitoring, according to Carrier Chronicles.
The website analyzed the report that surveyed more than 720,000 open and closed claims with more than seven days of lost time from 32 states, occurring between 2017 and 2022.
The key findings cited are that: Males accounted for roughly 58% of all injuries; Half of all injuries occurred during the first two years of employment; Employees 55 and over made up 21% of all workplace injuries; More than 60% of injuries were sprains, strains, lacerations, or contusions; and, Nearly three out of every four injuries were from five core industries.
Those industries and their respective share of total injuries were: Wholesale and retail trade, 21%; Manufacturing, 17%; Services, 13%; Healthcare and social assistance, 11%; and, Transportation, warehousing, and utilities, 10%.
Construction and mining only accounted for 7% of total injuries; however they contributed the highest share of medical and indemnity costs per claim, according to the analysis.
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Carpe Data said it has teamed with EverPeak Insurance to provide its predictive data solution to streamline the Pinnacol Assurance unit’s underwriting process ahead of a national rollout.
EverPeak launched in May, in 10 states, with a goal of nationwide availability within 24 months.
The carrier is focusing on small businesses and industries that find it difficult to find easy and timely access to workers’ comp coverage.
Santa Barbara, California-based Carpe Data’s Minerva platform extracts relevant data to improve risk assessment in workers’ compensation insurance.
The firm said it will enable EverPeak’s underwriting to focus on reviewing exceptions rather than every policy for its ‘no-touch’ service model.
Formerly known as Riviera Data, Carpe Data is backed by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, according to Pitchbook.
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West Virginia plans to destroy workers’ compensation claim files that more than a decade old.
When the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) was terminated in 2005, the Offices of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) became the custodian of millions of records.
State Insurance Commissioner Allan McVey cited increasing cybersecurity concerns, saying that the risk of continued storage of the type of information contained in the closed claim files outweighs the benefit of continued retention.
Some files will be retained, including final orders entered by the former commission, the OIC, Board of Review, or the former Office of Judges.
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