No. 06-02930. LARRY G. GOSNELL, Claimant.

• Court: Oregon

Oregon Worker Compensation 2008. No. 06-02930. LARRY G. GOSNELL, Claimant In the Matter of the Compensation of LARRY G. GOSNELL, ClaimantWCB Case Nos. 06-02930, 06-02337ORDER ON REVIEWKryger et al, Claimant Attorneys Reinisch Mackenzie PC, Defense AttorneysReviewing Panel: Members Langer and Weddell.The self-insured employer requests review of that portion of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Crummé's order that: (1) set aside its denial of claimant's new/omitted medical condition claim for an L5-S1 disc condition; (2) awarded a $6,500 assessed attorney fee under ORS 656.386(1); and (3) awarded a $1,500 attorney fee under ORS 656.262(11)(a) for unreasonable claim processing. On review, the issues are compensability and attorney fees. We affirm in part and modify in part. FINDINGS OF FACT We adopt the ALJ's "Findings of Fact." CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND OPINION Compensability After our review of the record, we agree with the ALJ's evaluation of the medical evidence and adopt his conclusions and reasoning in that regard. Consequently, we affirm this portion of the ALJ's order. Attorney Fees The ALJ awarded an assessed attorney fee of $6,500 under ORS 656.386(1), and a $1,500 attorney fee under ORS 656.262(11)(a), for a total fee award of $8,000. The employer challenges both awards as excessive. Based on the following reasoning, we reduce the ALJ's "penalty-related" attorney fee award to $1,000 for claimant's counsel's services at the hearings level. We review the attorney fees issue de novo, considering the specific contentions raised on review, in light of the factors set forth in OAR 438-015-0010(4) as applied to the particular circumstances of this case. See Schoch v. Leopold and Stevens, 325 Or 112, 118-19 (1997) (in determining a reasonable assessed attorney fee, we apply the factors set forth in OAR 438-015-0010(4) to the circumstances of each case). Those factors are: (1) the time devoted to the case; (2) the complexity of the issue(s) involved; (3) the value of the interest involved; (4) the skill of the attorneys; (5) the nature of the proceedings; (6) the benefit secured for the represented party; (7) the risk in a particular case that an attorney's efforts may go uncompensated; and (8) the assertion of frivolous issues or defenses. First, after reviewing the record, and considering the aforementioned factors and the...