Matthew Lavisky, a partner at Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, expressed concerns regarding House Bill 1551, which he claims would reinstate a litigation framework where attorneys benefit disproportionately and clients' interests become secondary. This statement was made in a press release on March 18.
"Attorneys could recover multiple times more than their clients. Cases became about the lawyers, not the insureds," said Lavisky. "The ‘reasonable' hourly rate under the lodestar approach is purely theoretical because no one agreed to pay that amount. This system of lawyers determining the value of the services of lawyers led to hugely excessive ‘reasonable' rates for run-of-the-mill litigation. Lawyers are being paid from Florida's homeowner's premiums an amount that a teacher or firefighter might make in six months just to testify about how much another lawyer should be awarded."
Lavisky's comments respond to House Bill 1551, which proposes reinstating attorney’s fee awards in property insurance disputes if the judgment exceeds the insurer’s offer. According to an analysis by Insurance Business Magazine, this provision closely mirrors the framework that existed before Florida’s Senate Bill 2A reforms. These reforms were intended to curb excessive litigation incentives. Lavisky argues that this change would return Florida to an environment where litigation was financially driven by attorneys rather than clients’ actual claims.
Prior to the 2022 reforms, Florida’s fee-shifting statute enabled attorneys to secure court-awarded fees that sometimes vastly exceeded the actual insurance recovery. In cases like Bumgarner v. Security First Insurance Co., courts awarded attorney’s fees approaching $1,000 per hour—amounts far beyond typical market rates. According to court filings reported in the case, an expert witness attorney earned $21,000 simply for testifying about what fee another lawyer should receive, underscoring the cost inflation inherent in the prior system.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky testified that excessive litigation, not insurance company profits, was the primary driver of Florida’s property insurance crisis. At a Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee hearing in January 2024, Yaworsky emphasized that reforms like SB 2A targeted abusive legal practices that undermined market stability. He added that any concerns about Managing General Agents could be addressed without reviving the prior fee structures.
Lavisky is a litigation partner at Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP, focusing on defending insurers in complex coverage disputes and bad faith claims. As detailed on the firm’s website, he has presented on insurance reform and litigation abuse at legal and industry conferences and was elected President of the Florida Defense Lawyers Association in 2023. He is known for his critical stance on statutory loopholes that incentivize disproportionate attorney fee recoveries.