Posts Tagged ‘attorney hourly rates’

South Florida judges halting fee abuse by plaintiff PIP attorneys

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

County court judges in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have taken notice that attorney fee claims by plaintiff personal injury protection (PIP) attorneys are out of control.

In recent hearings, judges Andrew Hague, Gladys Perez, Lisa Walsh, Caryn Canner Schwartz and Myriam Lehr in Miami-Dade County and Judge Leonard Feiner in Broward County, slashed plaintiff attorney’s fee claims by as much as 50%.

These Florida judges see the billing abuse that PIP attorneys have been engaging in for far too long. Florida drivers have been footing the bill for this abuse and we are glad these judges have taken notice.

As previously reported here, the hourly rates claimed by and awarded to plaintiff PIP attorneys in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are equally out of control. In Broward County, Judges Leonard Feiner, Robert Lee and Linda Pratt have reduced hourly rates previously awarded by their fellow judges.  In Miami-Dade County, Judges Myriam Lehr and Shelley Kravitz have done the same.

We appreciate that these judges are addressing the problem — doing what is right in this tough economy. We hope other judges will step up as well.

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Appeals court overturns verdict that gave big payoff to plaintiff attorney

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

The fee faucet from which so many plaintiff attorneys drink has been reduced to a potential trickle by the appellate division of Miami-Dade County circuit court. Before attorneys sue auto insurance companies over Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims, they must make clear beforehand what their client wants, said the court in a July 1, 2010, opinion authored by Judge Mark King Leban.

The court showed excellent common and financial sense. There is no reason that an attorney should pocket $13,000 when suing for two bucks.

In handing down a unanimous decision, the court said the only motivation for the lawsuit was attorney fees. The court told the county court judge to look at the lawsuit again, deny the plaintiff attorney her fees, and dismiss the complaint.

The case began after a United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC) policyholder was injured in a car accident in 2004. Fourteen months after UAIC paid her medical bills, her attorney, Maria Corredor, sent a letter saying that additional money was owed, but did not state how much.  Four months later Corredor filed suit, and only then did she explain that her client was seeking $2.53 in alleged overdue interest.

Corredor is a regular player in the plaintiff PIP bar.  When UAIC surveyed PIP plaintiff attorneys who sought the highest legal fees, the company found that she charged and was regularly awarded $400 an hour. She had every incentive to sue rather than write UAIC and ask for the tiny amount owed.

Without a trial, Miami-Dade county court judge Robin Faber awarded the plaintiff a total of $2.53 and gave Corredor $13,370.25 in fees and costs, plus interest.

The amounts made no sense – legally or economically – so UAIC appealed. Ridiculous fee awards like this one just encourage more plaintiff attorneys to bring frivolous suits in hopes of a big payday.

A panel of three Miami-Dade circuit judges acting in their appellate capacity agreed with UAIC in a 15-page opinion.  Had the plaintiff and her lawyer sent a letter specifying exactly how much was owed, “no lawsuit would have been filed, nor any judgment entered for such a paltry amount, nor any award for attorney’s fees for such a conscience-of-the-court shockingly large amount,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The judges then absolved UAIC of any wrongdoing.

“In the case at bar, there was no wrongful conduct by United,” they wrote in their opinion. The company paid the medical providers 14 months before Corredor sent her vague letter demanding more money. And her client waited 18 months after the medical providers cashed their checks to sue.

The court also said that county courtrooms should not entertain lawsuits for trivial dollar amounts. The court cited a Florida Supreme Court decision from 1858 in which a case was dismissed because the amount involved was a small (“de minimis”) amount between $9 and $11.  In the UAIC case, the judges wrote, “One wonders how ‘de minimis’ an amount for which an insured/provider will repair to the court for redress: $1.23? $0.25? A nickel?”

The answer is 17 cents, as reported in this blog. The good news is that the courts are running out of patience with plaintiff lawyers who waste the time and money of taxpayers and insured drivers. One can only hope that judges in Miami-Dade county courts and beyond heed the wise words in this court decision.

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Attorney tries to dodge fees when PIP lawsuit goes bad

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

When it comes to money that plaintiffs or their attorneys have to pay out of their pockets, some lawsuits never come to an end. And that’s what happened with a claim that started seven years ago.

Plaintiff attorneys are paid as much as $500 an hour for filing paperwork at the courthouse and filling in forms, United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC) uncovered in its research of court records.

But when those attorneys lose, they want the other side to receive less than $100 an hour. How surprising.

UAIC fought a 2003 accident claim in Broward County, Florida. The claimant, who was not insured by UAIC, sought Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage relating to an alleged accident. UAIC denied payment of PIP benefits after discovering the claimant herself owned two vehicles for which insurance was required. That led to a lawsuit in Broward County Court.

During litigation, plaintiff attorney William C. Ruggiero argued that one of the vehicles the claimant owned had been stolen and the other was inoperable, and as such, United was responsible for PIP coverage. Ruggeiro, whose law offices are in Fort Lauderdale,  even filed an affidavit of the claimant’s daughter alleging the vehicle was inoperable.

UAIC discovered from the claimant herself that she did in fact own two vehicles, that neither had ever been stolen, and that both vehicles were in fine working condition. In fact, one of the vehicles was actively driven by her daughter, the person who signed the affidavit alleging the vehicle was inoperable.

After two long hearings on UAIC’s motion to dismiss the case, Broward County Court Judge Martin Dishowitz finally ruled in our favor.

UAIC then asked for payment of the attorney’s fees incurred while litigating the bogus claim. Ruggiero and his client once again made every argument possible to deny UAIC’s request. Judge Dishowitz ultimately dismissed the plaintiff’s arguments and granted entitlement to fees but challenged just how much UAIC’s defense attorney should be paid per hour.

A fee expert hired by Ruggeiro said that insurance defense attorneys usually get paid $85 to $150 per hour, with the average being $100 to $135 per hour.

UAIC argued that because its defense attorney had five years of experience defending PIP cases, the rate should be $250 to $350 per hour. Judge Dishowitz regularly awards plaintiff PIP attorneys with similar experience $250 to $350 per hour.

Judge Dishowitz made UAIC argue twice for why it should be paid and in the end only awarded $145 per hour. Was that a reasonable amount? It would be if the plaintiff attorneys were not asking for and being awarded $300 to $500 an hour. Somehow, those lawyers believe their time is more valuable than ours and the judges seem to believe that too. It is such a biased system.

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UAIC to LaBovick: Let’s get to truth on PIP lawsuits

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Our report on April 13 that LaBovick & LaBovick was filing hundreds of small-dollar lawsuits in Broward County apparently got the attention of the law firm and its managing shareholder, Brian F. LaBovick. Don’t think he caught United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) in the act of something devious, as the headline of his blog post would suggest. We were the ones who lifted the veil on his operations. Now, he is howling about “bringing the insurance giant to justice” in an April 27 blog post.

Thanks to our enterprising work, Mr. LaBovick now admits in his blog post that his firm has flooded the Broward courts with at least 1,000 lawsuits that are Personal Injury Protection (PIP) related. He also acknowledges that the plaintiff in every case is a company he controls, Gulfstream Medigroup. And Mr. LaBovick also admits that many of the lawsuits are for small sums of money.

Mr. LaBovick has a lot to say in his post about how he thinks his firm is undertaking a noble effort. He says his firm stands up for the rights of doctors and medical providers. There is a big problem with his argument: the doctors and medical providers he claims he is standing up for are not the ones filing suit and claiming they have been underpaid.

Mr. LaBovick also raises the question, “How much is the ‘right amount’ to be ripped off before a doctor sues?” Sadly, he has no numbers or statistics to back up the claim that anyone has been cheated. In reality, Mr. Labovick is filing lawsuits for bills that were previously paid in full, or were paid at an amount that the medical clinic accepted as full and final payment.  In one case, UAIC erroneously paid the medical clinic twice for the same services, with both checks cashed by the provider, and the LaBovick firm still filed a lawsuit claiming UAIC underpaid!  These are the numbers and statistics that will come out in court.

If you want to talk about rip-offs, cite numbers, such as the fact that the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud gets as many tips about PIP fraud as all other types of insurance fraud combined. Or read about the busts of medical clinics that excessively overcharge, submit bills for services never rendered, or treat people who stage accidents. Those people are the criminals who Mr. LaBovick should be criticizing.

So, Mr. LaBovick, let’s get down to what this is really about: your legal fees. In every case, LaBovick & LaBovick is seeking the same thing: attorney’s fees from insurance companies like UAIC.  If it weren’t about the attorney’s fees, then the lawsuits would have never been filed.  Why else would Mr. Labovick file a lawsuit for an alleged underpayment of $3.89 when it costs a minimum of $55 to file the suit?

Gulfstream Medigroup and LaBovick & LaBovick (which, of course, are one and the same) are just another group in a long line of attorneys that are out to milk Florida’s no-fault PIP system for exorbitant attorney’s fees.  This is a game to them, and the ones who ultimately pay are taxpayers and honest Florida drivers. The game needs to end.

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It’s time to fight back against PIP fraud

Monday, April 19th, 2010

“You know all our cases are phony and we bribe the judges.”

This may sound like a quote from a television crime drama, but it’s not.  It’s a direct quote from plaintiff Personal Injury Protection (PIP) attorney and longstanding member of the Florida Bar, Michael Ira Libman.  Mr. Libman is regularly awarded $450 an hour to pursue PIP cases.

Plaintiff PIP attorney Carlos Lopez-Albear once bragged that the plaintiff PIP attorneys in Miami-Dade County are named “The Dirty Thirty.”  Lopez-Albear is regularly awarded $400 an hour for PIP cases.

“These are perfect examples of what insurers encounter in Dade and Broward County,” responds Richard Parrillo, Sr., founder and CEO of United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC).  “Plaintiff PIP attorneys are so arrogant, they flaunt the fraud they engage in.

“I’m confident we are not the only carrier that faces this type of arrogance and it is time for us to speak out,” Parrillo says. ” Insurance fraud comes at a heavy cost to Florida residents and it’s time we fight back.”

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Lawsuit-happy firm in Palm Beach files PIP court claim for $3.89

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Little lawsuits. Littler lawsuits.

It’s just another day at the Broward County courthouse for Gulfstream MediGroup. The Palm Beach-based firm has become a litigation machine, filing more than 300 lawsuits in Broward County’s courts in both January and February 2010, according to public records. That’s equivalent to one every half-hour the main courthouse was open.

In the last three months of 2009, Gulfstream MediGroup filed 435 lawsuits against companies that insure drivers, according to public records. Among them, a claim for $3.89, plus legal bills for its exclusive law firm, LaBovick & LaBovick. The CEO of Gulfstream MediGroup, Brian F. LaBovick, is also the managing shareholder at LaBovick & LaBovick, which specializes in PIP litigation. The law firm and its automobile claims collection firm operate at the same address on Hood Road in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The plaintiff lawyers who supposedly represent insured drivers are now getting into the litigation business just for themselves. In all of these cases, the driver and his or her medical provider were bought off a long time ago. Now it’s just the plaintiff lawyers and their captive billing agency down the hall.

Gulfstream MediGroup sued UAIC in December 2009 for an accident that the UAIC-insured driver said took place three years earlier. Since that time, the driver has signed over her claim to Hallandale Open MRI in Hallandale, Fla. That company, in turn, has signed over all its insurance claims from 2004 to 2007 to Gulfstream MediGroup in an undated document.

The lawsuit claims that UAIC underpaid a PIP-related claim by $3.89 and seeks to recover that amount for Gulfstream MediGroup, plus attorneys’ fees for LaBovick & LaBovick. A recent survey of attorneys’ fees in PIP cases found that many attorneys charge between $300 and $400 an hour for filing legal paperwork in Broward County courts.

From our point of view, it just doesn’t make sense to tie up the courts for a measly $3.89 so that an attorney can take home tens of thousands of dollars in fees. This is an abuse of the justice system. Gulfstream MediGroup is just dumping hundreds of lawsuits at the Broward courthouse. The firm is demanding that taxpayers and, ultimately, insured drivers pay for them.

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Plaintiff attorney asks for a penny, judge says no

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Chalk one up for common sense. A lawsuit for 1 cent has been tossed out of Miami-Dade County Court.

“The case was another example of how far some plaintiff attorneys will go to collect fees and the trouble it takes to get rid of nuisance lawsuits,” said Richard Parrillo, Sr., founder and CEO of United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC).

“Plaintiff attorneys look to put thousands of dollars in their pockets even if their clients receive 1 cent or less,” said Parrillo. “This misuse of the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law wastes taxpayers’ money and judges’ time. The Florida legislature needs to clear the courts of worthless lawsuits.”

Attorney Daniel Davidovic of Shuster & Saben LLC in Miami had sued UAIC in 2009 in Miami-Dade County Court on behalf of Chiro Group LLC, a Miami Lakes chiropractor; its patient was a UAIC policyholder. Damage to that driver’s vehicle in an August 2008 accident was $50, according to a police report.

According to a transcript from a court hearing in Feburary 2010, the claim was that United’s payments to Chiro Group LLC were short by one penny. Basic PIP covers 80 percent of an injured person’s medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to a maximum of $10,000.

At that hearing, Miami-Dade County Court Judge Linda Singer-Stein dismissed the lawsuit after listening to arguments from UAIC and Miami attorney Jeffrey Altman, who claimed he now represented Chiro Group LLC. The judge said of the 1-cent shortage on one check: “The difference is immaterial.”

But it wasn’t that simple, or unusual. UAIC has repeatedly found that plaintiff attorneys file PIP lawsuits over a few dollars. Their reward: fat fees. Altman, for example, has been paid $375 an hour on other cases, according to a UAIC analysis of court records. Davidovic of Shuster & Saben was also seeking fees.

Altman’s client had cashed the benefit checks a year before the court hearing. The penny was owed because of a rounding error, said Altman, who does business as The Law Office of Jeffrey Altman.

Judge Singer-Stein asked Altman why he didn’t contact UAIC when he found a math error. His response: “It is not our job,” he said, according to a court transcript. “If they don’t pay, we get to file suit.”

Altman did not want to repay costs that UAIC had incurred in defending the suit. He claimed at the hearing that he acted in good faith and so both sides should just walk away. The judge said she would think about whether Altman should pay up. In the meantime, policyholders at UAIC are footing the bill.

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South Florida plaintiff attorneys rack up big hourly fees

Monday, February 8th, 2010

South Florida’s county courts have become the home of the big payday for attorneys who file lawsuits related to personal injury protection (PIP) claims. An analysis of court records by United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) shows that a couple of lawyers in Miami-Dade County now command $500 an hour for filing legal paperwork. In Broward County, a dozen attorneys get paid $400 an hour for lawsuits.

The hourly rates put some attorneys on the same level as South Florida lawyers who perform multimillion-dollar mergers or handle sales on properties worth tens of millions of dollars. The difference: PIP lawyers sometimes sue for as little as $2.59 for their clients. And in many instances, the lawsuits seek payment on medical treatment related to a fender bender.

Plaintiff attorneys in PIP cases have turned consumer protection into a professional money machine. Time and time again firms like UAIC object in court to these fees because ultimately all drivers pay those expenses. Sadly, not enough judges can be convinced that these fees are out of line.

The UAIC fee study found that about 39 Miami-Dade attorneys have obtained the OK from county judges to charge $400, or more, per hour. Another 48 attorneys received $300 to $375 an hour. (See list below.)

The situation is similar in Broward County. There, UAIC found 15 lawyers who had received court approval to charge $400 an hour when they filed lawsuits related to PIP claims. Another 25 lawyers received $300 to $375 an hour. (See list below.)

Even if the lawsuit is for a small amount, an attorney will sometimes bill 100 hours or more and judges will award them $35,000 to $45,000, UAIC found. The county courts have a jurisdictional limit of $15,000, yet judges will freely award attorneys fees well in excess of this amount.

UAIC has seen fee awards in PIP cases in excess of $100,000 when the benefits recovered were only a couple thousand of dollars. This phenomenon of inexplicable attorney fee awards has fueled the fraud and abuse that permeates the PIP system.

** HOURLY BILLING RATES FOR ATTORNEYS IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT**

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $500.00

Marlene Reiss

Michael L. Silverstein

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $475.00

Bernard H. Butts, Jr.

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $450.00

Bartram Billbrough

Carlos A. Lopez

Michael I. Libman

Stuart L. Koenigsberg

Virginia Best

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $425.00

Amado A. Alvarez

Gary A. Friedman

John S. Seligman

Michael Feldman

Juan Montes

Kevin Whitehead

Marc Goldman

Michael Feldman

Stuart B. Yanofsky

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $400.00

Daniel L. Kaufman

DeWayne Terry

Gabriel Sanchez

Anthony L. Tolgyesi

Brian Rodier

Carlos A. Lopez-Albear

Jacinto Gonzalez

Jeannie Jontiff

Jose Iglesia

Kenneth B. Shurr

Kenneth Dorchak

Kevin Whitehead

Mari Sampedro-Iglesia

Mark D. Feinstein

Mark Feldman

Richard E. Doherty

Rina Kaplan

Robert A. Trilling

Russel Lazega

Scott Jontiff

Steven Singer

Stuart B. Yanofsky

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $375.00

Fernando F. Freire

Frank Allocca

Frederick W. Hoethke

Gregg Pessin

James D. Payer

Jeffrey S. Altman

Jon Freeman

Jonathan Friedland

Martin Berger

Michael Kaplan

Michael Leader

Neil Gonzalez

Sadie Naveo

Spencer Morgan

Thomas J. Morgan

Todd Landau

Valerie Manno

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $350.00

Lourdes Alvarez

Donald Kerner

Armando Brana

Christian Carrazana

Cornel D. Williams

Dagmar Llaudy

George A. David

Gladys Cardenas

Ivan M. Tobias

Jeffrey G. Hess

John C. Llarena

Julie Terry

Kevin D. Mercer

Lisa Sanders

Lisa-Ann Gordon

Peter DePrimo

R. Brian Boyd

Rita Baez

Robert Seitz

Stephen A. Cameron

Stephen S. Nuell

Todd Link

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $310.00 to $325.00

Sebastian Lissa

Kertch J. Conze

Travis Greene

Eric Shapiro

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $300.00

Craig Blinderman

Deborah A. Green

Jose A. Yanez

Meena M. Lopez

Patricia Saintvil-Joseph

** HOURLY BILLING RATES FOR ATTORNEYS IN BROWARD COUNTY COURT**

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $400.00

Adolfo Podrecca

Amir Fleischer

Charles J. Kane

Cris E. Boyar

Gary Marks

Harley Kane

Jay Spechler

Joseph R. Dawson

Laura M. Watson

Marc Finkelstein

Mary Margaret-Monk

Michael Bendell

Michele Muir

Paul A. Adams

William Ruggiero

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $375.00

Andrew J. Weinstein

Angela Cohn

Nichole Pacella

Paul S. Adams

Robert Stein

Robert Bradford, Jr.

Keith Schafer

Steven Ainbinder

Steven Lander

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $350.00

David M. Spitz

Douglas  Harrison

Emilio R. Stillo

Nathan J. Avrunin

Nicole R. Malick

Rafael I. Katz

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $325.00

Brian H. Malamud

Caroline Perlegas

Mark P. Mullen

Michael Fischetti

Steve Phillips

Timothy A. Patrick

Helen Stratigakos

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $300.00

Chris Pole

Vanessa Casullo

Kathy Eikosidekas

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