Allows a workers' compensation claimant and the claimant's attorney to negotiate the attorney's fees.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Section 386-94, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§386-94 Attorneys, physicians, other health care providers, and other fees. Claims for services shall not be valid unless approved by the director or, if an appeal is had, by the appellate board or court deciding the appeal. Any claim so approved shall be a lien upon the compensation in the manner and to the extent fixed by the director, the appellate board, or the court.

The employee and employee's attorney may negotiate the hourly rate to be paid as attorneys' fees. An attorney's request for approval of attorneys' fees to the director or to the appellate board shall include a copy of the engagement agreement, signed by the employee, and an itemized statement of services rendered. In the event of an objection to the fee request by the employee, the director shall review the request and the supporting documentation and may approve or modify the fee request as appropriate based on all relevant factors, including but not limited to the engagement agreement, the experience of the attorney, the difficulty of the case, and the outcome of the claim.

The director may not deny or modify fees in the absence of any objection by the employee, unless the director determines that a gross injustice will occur without the intervention.

Any person who receives any fee, other consideration, or gratuity on account of services so rendered, without approval, in conformity with the preceding paragraph, shall be fined by the director not more than $10,000[.]; provided that an attorney may receive and hold funds in the client's trust account pending approval of a request for approval of attorneys' fees."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.