S & H Fabricating & Engineering, Inc. v. Wamley

Employer/carrier appeal from an order of the deputy commissioner awarding claimant a reasonable attorney’s fee, reimbursement for taxable costs, a penalty and interest. We affirm.

The deputy commissioner’s assessment against employer/carrier included an attorney’s fee for travel time incurred by claimant’s lawyer as well as travel expenses covering his plane fare and rental car. The deputy limited the taxability of travel expenses to the unique set of facts presented by the case, which he explained as follows:

Mr. Klemick [claimant’s attorney] tried to hire five different lawyers to handle the…