## Facts

- Two employees suffered compensable work-related injuries before January 1, 1993.
- After January 1, 1993, each employee filed a petition for relief under Maine’s then-new workers’ compensation statute and the matters proceeded to mediation.
- At mediation, the employers appeared and were represented by counsel; the employees were also represented by counsel.
- The employees moved for attorney’s fees that included services performed before mediation.
- The Workers’ Compensation Board awarded attorney’s fees, and the parties agreed that part of the awards covered pre-mediation services.
- The employers appealed, arguing that the statute governing pre-1993 injuries limited employer-paid fees to services performed from the date of mediation forward.

## Issues

1. Whether, for injuries occurring before January 1, 1993, Maine law permits employer-paid attorney’s fees for reasonable legal services performed before a post-1993 mediation session.
2. How 39-A M.R.S. § 325(5)’s reference to fees “from the date of the mediation session” should be read in light of the statute’s stated intent not to alter benefits for pre-1993 injuries.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the Board’s fee awards.
- The court held that the legislature did not intend to materially reduce employer-paid fee entitlement for injuries predating Title 39-A.
- For pre-1993 injuries, employer-paid fees may include reasonable attorney work performed before mediation when the employer is represented by counsel at mediation.
- The “from the date of the mediation session” language was not treated as a cutoff that barred compensation for pre-mediation services.

## Legal Principles

- For work-related injuries occurring before January 1, 1993, attorney’s fees are determined by the law in effect on the date of injury and are payable by the employer.
- Statutory provisions designated as prospective will not be applied to reduce pre-enactment benefits absent clear legislative direction.
- A clause authorizing fees “from the date of mediation” may be construed as ensuring coverage for mediation-related representation, not as eliminating otherwise recoverable pre-mediation fees under preserved pre-1993 law.

## Conclusion

The court upheld employer responsibility for employee attorney’s fees in pre-1993 injury cases, ruling that the shift to a mediation-based process after 1993 did not eliminate recovery of reasonable employer-paid fees for necessary pre-mediation legal services.


DeRice v. S.D. Warren Co., 694 A.2d 450 (Me. 1997)