Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n v. Smith

OPINION

BURGESS, Justice.

This is a dispute over attorney’s fees in a worker’s compensation case. In a jury trial, Tommy Ray Smith was found to have suffered an on-the-job injury which resulted in a period of total incapacity arid permanent, partial disability. The jury failed to find that manifest hardship would result if the compensation was not paid in a lump sum. Mr. Smith’s attorneys sought their fees in a lump sum. The trial court entered a judgment awarding future compensation in the amount of $60,170.97, The judge then allowed recovery of attorney’s fees of 25 percent or $15,042.74. He…