Claimant attorney Kim Wyatt and carrier attorney Dean Pappas were the hardest working comp attorneys in 2021, according to a report prepared by the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) in response to an open records request for a list of Texas’s top billers.
Ms. Wyatt had approved fees for the year of $880,050.00 while Mr. Pappas had $811,747.50. Assuming billing at the Division’s maximum allowed hourly rate of $200.00, Ms. Wyatt put in 4,400 hours for the injured employees she represents, and Mr. Pappas was not far behind with 4,058 hours for his carrier clients. That’s 12 and 11 hours per day, respectively, every single day of the year, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays included.
This is not the first time each has topped the list. Ms. Wyatt was also number one in 2017 and a close second in 2020. Mr. Pappas was number one in 2017 and 2018, slipped to number two in 2019, and was back on top again in 2020.
Equally impressive are Bill Abbott & Associates, whose claimant firm placed four attorneys in the Top Ten.
Number three on the list of top-billing claimant attorneys for 2021 is Adam Henderson, who was indicted for billing fraud last year. The indictment alleges Mr. Henderson submitted bills for work he did not do between January 1, 2012 and January 31, 2019. A
DWC press release stated that he and two other attorneys were charged with securing the execution of a document by deception, a first-degree felony and tampering with a government record, a second-degree felony.
According to DWC’s press release, “DWC adopted an attorney fee rule in January 2017 to allow DWC to monitor attorney billing more effectively.”
To view the amount of approved attorney’s fees for each of the top 100 Claimant and Carrier workers’ compensation attorneys for 2021, click the following link:
Top 100 2021Prior years can be viewed here:
Top 100 2020,
Top 100 2019,
Top 100 2018,
Top 100 2017