A decision in the above-captioned matter was issued by the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals on April 22, 2015. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 176.511, this court awarded the employee’s attorney fees in the amount of $1,500.00 for representing the employee in the appeal before this court.
The attorney for the employee filed a motion with this court requesting additional fees in the amount of $5,000.00 to compensate him for the time spent on appeal, as well as attorney fees in this matter under Minn. Stat. § 176.081, subds. 1 & 7, Roraff fees, and reimbursement of certain costs and disbursements. The motion was considered by Gary M. Hall, Patricia J. Milun, and Manuel J. Cervantes, Judges of the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals. Based upon the previous decision of this court in this matter, as well as the pleadings filed in connection with this motion, the court determines that the request for an award of additional fees, costs and disbursements from this court is not warranted.
NOW THEREFORE, it is ORDERED that the request for an award of additional fees, costs and disbursements from this court is DENIED.
GARY M. HALL, Judge
Minn. Stat. § 176.511, subd. 3, provides that “[w]here upon appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, an award of compensation is affirmed, or modified and affirmed, or an order disallowing compensation is reversed, the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals may include in its award as an incident to its review on appeal an amount to cover a reasonable attorney fee, or it may allow the fee in a proceeding to tax disbursements.”
Thus, the authority for an award of fees for a successful review before this court originates from Minn. Stat. § 176.511 rather than from Minn. Stat. § 176.081.[1] Any fee awarded incident to our review on appeal is based on this court’s determination of what constitutes a reasonable fee in a particular case given the specific issues presented as well as our experience with similar cases. Under Minn. R. 9800.1700, a party may petition for taxation of costs and disbursements within 45 days of the filing of the final appellate decision in the main action.[2] Under this rule, and in light of our statutory authority to allow the fee “in a proceeding to tax disbursements,” we have and will, in exceptional cases or unusual circumstances, consider petitions by a party to reconsider our initial award of fees.
In this case, the attorney for the employee has timely requested reconsideration of our initial award of attorney fees and the employer and insurer have objected to the petition. After reconsideration, we have determined that the attorney fee initially awarded was a reasonable fee in this case and, consequently, we decline to amend our previous award.[3]
The attorney for the employee has also requested fees pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 176.081, subds. 1 and 7, Roraff fees,[4] and reimbursement of certain costs and disbursements. We decline to consider the requests for Roraff fees and fees sought pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 176.081, subds. 1 and 7. We similarly decline to consider an award of any costs or disbursements not associated with the appeal before this court.[5] The documentation submitted with the statement of fees does not clearly identify any specific costs or disbursements associated with the appeal before this court.
[1] A fee awarded under Minn. Stat. § 176.511 is independent of the amount of, or type of, fees awarded by a compensation judge in proceedings before the judge.
[2] We consider that the time for filing a petition under this section begins to run from the date of this court’s decision, or if the decision is appealed on certiorari, from the date of the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
[3] See also, Kelly Dennis v. The Salvation Army, Order Denying. Attorney Fees, No. WC16-5919 (W.C.C.A. Mar. 10, 2016).
[4] Roraff v. State, Dep’t of Transp., 288 N.W.2d 15, 32 W.C.D. 297 (Minn. 1980).
[5] The employee’s attorney may pursue attorney fees under Minn. Stat. § 176.081, subds. 1 and 7, Roraff fees, and reimbursement of costs and disbursements associated with the case below at the Office of Administrative Hearings.