Title: Cain v. Employers Casualty Company

State: louisiana

Issuer: Louisiana Supreme Court

Document:

110 So. 2d 108 (1959) 236 La. 1085 Clint B. CAIN v. EMPLOYERS CASUALTY COMPANY. No. 43722. Supreme Court of Louisiana. March 23, 1959. *109 Simon & Carroll, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant-relator. Byrne A. Bowman, Oklahoma City, Okl., Booth, Lockard, Jack & Pleasant, Shreveport, for plaintiff-appellee-respondent. SIMON, Justice. Upon the application of relator, Employers Casualty Company, we granted writs in this case, but limited solely to a consideration of the difference in views entertained by the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeal on the question of whether attorney's fees assessable under LSA-R.S. 22:658[1] are restricted by the provisions of LSA-R.S. 23:1141[2]. The Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, in affirming the lower court's judgment, expressly held that an award of reasonable attorney's fees is properly allowable under the provisions of the Insurance Code, supra, when invoked as a penalty; that the $1,000 limitation of attorney's fees as prescribed in the Workmen's Compensation Act, supra, is not restrictive of nor does it circumscribe the award as authorized as a penalty by the Insurance Code, supra; that such penalty awards accrue to the attorney, but which must be credited against the maximum permissible under the Compensation Act. After a careful consideration of the legal issues posed, we are convinced that the able and painstaking opinion rendered by the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, with Judge Ayers as its author, is eminently sound in law and correctly sets at rest the conflict heretofore prevailing, so much so, that we shall adopt it as our own [96 So. 2d 534]: "Next for consideration is the question of the fixing and the allowance of the attorneys' fees. Defendant contends that the allowance and fixing of the fees are governed by the Workmen's Compensation Statute, LSA-R.S. 23:1141, wherein it is prescribed that the maximum fee shall in no case exceed $1,000. Plaintiff contends that the fee should be fixed and assessed as a penalty under the provisions of the Insurance Code, LSA-R.S. 22:658, as amended by Act 417 of 1952, which provides for the fixing of a reasonable attorneys' fee as a penalty for the prosecution and collection of losses under insurance contracts or for the collection of compensation due employees under the Workmen's Compensation Statute. Defendant cites in support of its contention the case of Gloston v. Coal Operators Casualty Co., La.App. 1955, 85 So. 2d 100, wherein our brethren of the First Circuit without a discussion of reasons therefor held that the provisions of the Compensation Statute applied, and reduced an attorney's fee to $1,000. We are not in accord with that ruling. *111 "Next for consideration is the question as to the disposition of the attorneys' fee, that is, whether the attorney or the client is entitled to the fee. A resolution of this question is implied in the statute itself. LSA-R. S. 22:658 provides in part: For the reasons assigned, the judgment rendered, but confined within the scope of the writs issued, is affirmed at relator's cost. [1] Which fixes and assesses attorney's fees as a penalty under the provisions of the Insurance Code, as amended by Act 417 of 1952. [2] Our Workmen's Compensation Statute.