Opinion ID: 1199761
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: seiniger case

Text: Ken Fahrenwald and Sally Fahrenwald, both employed by the same company, were injured in separate accidents on the job. The employer/surety refused workers' compensation benefits to both claimants. Claimants retained Breck Seiniger (Seiniger) to help them recover benefits wrongfully denied them. Claimants and counsel entered into contingency fee agreements providing that counsel would receive one-third of any amounts recovered after filing an application for hearing but before appeal. Application for hearing was filed in both cases and a hearing was held in the case of Ken Fahrenwald, but not in the case of Sally Fahrenwald. Subsequent to the submission of lump sum settlement agreements in both cases, the Commission, on its own motion, advised the attorney that the fees agreed to between the claimants and counsel would not be approved. Counsel testified at a subsequent hearing concerning the amount of work he put into the cases and the value of his services. His uncontroverted testimony estimated that the fee agreement was approximately one-third of what he would have charged if the case had been accepted on an hourly basis. The Commission thereafter refused to approve the fee agreement without providing the Fahrenwalds and/or their counsel with a statement of reasons for doing so, and arbitrarily set its own fee arrangement, never expressly finding the original agreement to be unreasonable. Seiniger now appeals.