For the prosecution, liquidation, or decision of their cases before the Manager of the State Fund or before the Industrial Commission, workmen or employees do not require the services of attorneys, but if they decide to obtain the services of one for the better direction and defense of their cases, the Industrial Commission shall fix the percentage which should be paid to the attorney in prosecuting a claim in favor of the employee or workman or his heirs or beneficiaries, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
In such cases the Industrial Commission shall fix, chargeable to the State Insurance Fund, the percentage that should belong to the attorney as fees. Expenses incurred by the State Insurance Fund by virtue of this provision shall be paid from the insurance premiums, but they shall not be taken into consideration for purposes of the Merit Rating System. In cases of employers uninsured in violation of law, said expenses shall be charged to the uninsured employer, when the workman wins the case. Under no circumstances shall the appearance of agents or other persons be allowed in any case of claim before the Industrial Commission unless it is a case of a minor or incapacitated person, in which case the person representing the minor or incapacitated person cannot collect any sum or receive any remuneration of any kind for representing or assisting the interested person in his claim for compensation.
In cases that are the object of review before the courts and in mandamus cases authorized by this chapter and in which the services of an attorney are utilized, the court before which the case is tried shall fix the fees which the attorney should equitably receive. In cases of employers uninsured in violation of law, the expenses shall be charged to the uninsured employer, when the workman wins the case.
The fees fixed by the Industrial Commission or the court shall be the only fees that the attorney shall receive for his services.
History —Apr. 18, 1935, No. 45, p. 250, § 35; June 23, 1965, No. 69, p. 141, § 1; June 22, 1975, No. 57, p. 129, § 1; renumbered as § 33 on July 1, 1996, No. 63, § 3.