Supreme Court May Rule on Unbundling Attorney's Fees

The Supreme Court granted the Claimant's appeal in Vitac Corporation, Pet v. WCAB (Rozanc) and denied the Employer's appeal. This would suggest the Supreme Court is interested in the unbundling of attorney's fees that the WCJ denied, the Board allowed, and the Commonwealth Court denied stating Section 440(a) only allows as costs attorney’s fees, witness costs, necessary medical examination costs, and the value of unreimbursed lost time to attend the proceedings.

The costs at issue in the case were paralegal and law clerk fees. Other sometimes unbundled costs of doing buisness include: in-office photocopying, overnight delivery, Westlaw/Lexis, telephone, fax etc.