Commonwealth v. W.C.A.B (Old Republic), (Commonwealth Ct., July 28, 2010)

An insurer is entitled to a supersedeas recovery of the portion of attorney’s fees incurred to obtain the third party recovery.

The workers’ compensation insurer sought to obtain supersedeas fund reimbursement for the amount of attorney’s fees incurred to obtain a third party recovery. The court held that attorney’s fees incurred under section 319 to obtain a third party recovery by the claimant are “compensation” under section 443(a) of the Act for which supersedeas reimbursement is available. In that case, the claimant obtained a third party recovery, and the insurer received reimbursement for its portion of the net accrued lien. The insurer then sought supersedeas reimbursement for the benefits paid following the denial of supersedeas on a termination petition. The Commonwealth Court’s decision permitted the recovery of a portion of fees paid for the third party recovery based on the amount paid following the denial of supersedeas on the termination petition are recoverable.

Case Law Alert, 1st Qtr 2011