In light of two Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decisions, Neves v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (American Airlines), 232 A.3d 996 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2020), and Williams v. City of Philadelphia (Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board), 2024 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 89, workers’ compensation claimants’ attorneys run into attempted interference in their contractual relationship with their clients too often regarding the legal fees they are entitled to under Pennsylvania law.

The means used to obstruct the approval of the fee are not only flawed litigation tactics but arguably rise to the level of tortious interference. While some choose to be willfully blind to the plain language of Section 442 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, as well as its clear interpretation in Neves and Williams, we call on the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation defense bar to abstain from tortious interference with contractual relationship between injured workers and their attorneys under the pretext of a “greater good.” We would respectfully suggest that judges must be proactive in not allowing this tort.

The ‘Neves-Williams’ One-Two Punch