McConnell v. Commission of Finance
| Decision Date | 24 October 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 9635,9635 |
| Citation | 375 P.2d 394,13 Utah 2d 395 |
| Parties | d 395 Ray McCONNELL, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. The COMMISSION OF FINANCE of Utah, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
A. Pratt Kesler, Atty. Gen., Raymond W. Gee, Deputy Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, for appellant.
Hanson & Baldwin, H. Wayne Wadsworth, Salt Lake City, for respondent.
Plaintiff brought this action against the Utah State Finance Commission, administor of the State Insurance Fund, for reimbursement of attorneys' fees incurred by plaintiff in securing a recovery against a third party tortfeasor. Defendant appeals from a summary judgment in favor of plaintiff.
Plaintiff, while in the course and scope of his employment with Salt Lake Transportation Company, suffered personal injuries when the automobile he was driving was struck by a vehicle driven by one Tolman. The State Insurance Fund, as compensation carrier for Salt Lake Transportation, paid to or for the injured plaintiff, as workman's compensation, the sum of $2,652.01.
Through his attorneys, plaintiff brought a personal injury action against Tolman which was settled, out of court, for $14,000. The attorneys handled the matter on a contingent fee basis of one-fourth of the recovery. Plaintiff has paid defendant the sum of $2,652.01 and now seeks in this action to recover back from this amount one-fourth thereof as defendant's share of the legal fees. The lower court awarded him a summary judgment on his claim which amounted to $663.00.
The question before us is whether or not, under the circumstances, the State Insurance Fund's share of the recovery should be reduced by a proportionate share of the attorneys' fee incurred in the action brought by the injured employee. This necessitates a construction of a provision of our Workmen's Compensation Act, namely Section 35-1-62, U.C.A.1953. 1
With relation to the disbursement of the proceeds of a recovery against a third party, the first subsection of the statute gives a first priority to the payment of the costs, including attorneys' fees, of the action. These expenses are to be apportioned among the parties.
The second subsection gives a second priority to the reimbursement in full to the insurance carrier for all payments made by it in way of compensation to the injured employee.
If an insurance carrier initiates an action under this statute against a third party, or is made a party in an action initiated by the injured employee, any attorneys' fees incurred by it would fall within the priority provided in subsection (1). However, in the instant case, the State Insurance Fund was not a party to the action and did not incur any legal expenses.
Furthermore, subsecti...
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Draper v. Travelers Insurance Company
...by reason of a change in interpretation of the above cited section of the statute by the Utah Supreme Court. In McConnell v. Commission of Finance, 13 Utah 2d 395, 375 P.2d 394, decided in 1962, the court held that the portion of the section relating to the division of the recovery obtained......
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Worthen v. Shurtleff & Andrews, Inc.
...case the trial court approved the one-fourth contingent fee as reasonable. We have so concluded cognizant of McConnell v. Commission of Finance, 13 Utah 2d 395, 375 P.2d 394, in which the insurance carrier was not made a party, but in so far as this case may be inconsistent with McConnell, ......
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Prettyman v. Utah State Dept. of Finance
...be consumed for an attorney's fees. HENRIOD, J., concurs in the views expressed in the dissenting opinion of CALLISTER, C.J. 1 13 Utah 2d 395, 375 P.2d 394 (1962).2 19 Utah 2d 80, 426 P.2d 233 (1967).3 Drapers v. Travelers Insurance Co., 429 F.2d 44 (10 CCA 1970).4 Footnote 2 above, as stat......
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Williams v. Utah State Dept. of Finance, 11753
...of which is provided for and governed by Title 35--1--62, Utah Code Annotated 1953, set out at length in McConnell v. Comm. of Finance, 13 Utah 2d 395, 375 P.2d 394 (1962), a case relied on by appellant in the instant litigation. Reversed, with no costs Pertinent and essential facts may be ......