FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D16-4767
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PETER PORTU,
Appellant,
v.
CITY OF CORAL GABLES, JOHNS
EASTERN COMPANY, INC., and
CORVEL CORPORATION,
Appellees.
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On appeal from the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims.
Margret G. Kerr, Judge.
Date of Accident: November 18, 2009.
April 18, 2018
PER CURIAM.
Peter Portu appeals the workers’ compensation order
denying attorney’s fees and costs. We reverse as to attorney’s
fees. We affirm as to costs because Portu did not preserve his
claim for appeal.
Section 440.34(3), Florida Statutes (2009), entitles a
claimant to attorney’s fees when the “carrier files a response to
petition denying benefits”; the claimant has a “successful
prosecution of the petition”; and thirty days elapse from “the date
the carrier . . . receives the petition.” Franco v. SCI at Palmer
Club at Prestancia,
989 So. 2d 709, 710 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
(quoting statute). Each of those factors is present here. The fact
that the petition sought a higher impairment rating than the
employer eventually agreed to does not change the statutory
factors. On remand, the judge of compensation claims must
award fees.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part.
KELSEY, WINOKUR, and WINSOR, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Kimberly A. Hill of Kimberly A. Hill, P.L., Fort Lauderdale, for
Appellant.
Luis F. Estrada of Angones, McClure & Garcia, P.A., Miami, for
Appellees.
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