Aafedt Forde shareholders Robin D. Simpson and Sean Taylor represented the employer/insurer in Jurgenson v. Dave Perkins Contracting, Inc. before the Minnesota Supreme Court. The case centered on whether a contingent attorney fee above the statutory cap must be approved if the parties do not object to it.
The employee’s attorney requested $30,000 in fees from a $150,000 settlement, $4,000 above the statutory $26,000 cap set under Minn. Stat. § 176.081, subd. 1(a) (2022). Although the parties had stipulated to the fee, the compensation judge applied the Irwin factors and approved only the capped amount, denying the excess fee. On appeal, the WCCA affirmed. The employee’s attorney further appealed, raising multiple arguments including a claim that the statutory cap violated the Contracts Clause of the Minnesota Constitution.
The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected these arguments and fully affirmed the trial court and WCCA, holding:
- The 2024 amendment increasing the presumptive fee cap to $55,000 does not apply retroactively;
- Judges are not required to approve excess fees, even when unopposed. They retain the right to determine fees above the presumptive cap using the Irwin factors;
- The fee cap does not violate the Contracts Clause. The presumptive statutory cap on fees was in place prior to the fee/retainer agreement, so there was no retroactive impairment of the fee contract; and
- The WCCA did not err in affirming the denial of fees based on the trial court’s application of the Irwin factors.
This decision reinforces judicial discretion in evaluating fee requests and upholds the constitutionality of Minnesota’s attorney fee statute in workers’ compensation cases.
