A lawyer in an unemployment case

It is Article 9 of DTRH’s Regulation No. 9056, the "Regulation to Administer the Unemployment Insurance Programme", of 8 November 2018: the uniform rules for awarding attorney’s fees to the legal representatives of benefit claimants during the appeal process, in both administrative and judicial forums.

It applies to the unemployment-benefit claimant who has legal representation in their case, and to the lawyer representing them. The rule covers the administrative stage — before the arbitrator and the administrative judge — and also representation before the courts.

• That it be an unemployment-benefits case: that is the article’s coverage.Verified against the official source
• That the fees be approved by the Secretary: the lawyer may only charge or receive the approved amount.Verified against the official source

• The lawyer’s sworn motion, with every item of expenses, disbursements and time invested, the date they took on the representation and an account of the steps taken.
• A copy of the court’s judgment, if the representation took place before the courts.

1. 1

   Step 1: The rule in one sentence

   Article 9.1 says the lawyer representing a claimant during an unemployment-benefits case "may only charge or receive professional fees for their services in the amount approved by the Secretary". It is a limit on the lawyer, not a condition on the claimant: if you are asked for an advance payment or a percentage of your benefits, that demand runs against this article.

2. 2

   Step 2: Who pays

   Article 9.4 settles it: attorney’s fees, costs and any other disbursement the Secretary authorises are paid from the Employment Security Administration Fund. They do not come out of your benefit or your pocket when the Secretary grants them.

3. 3

   Step 3: The cap: one thousand dollars per case

   Article 9.5 sets the maximum: the maximum fees the Secretary may award in each case covered by the regulation "shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per case". It is a cap per case, not per step or per hour.

4. 4

   Step 4: How it is requested

   By a duly sworn motion, per Article 9.2. In it the lawyer details every item of expenses, disbursements and time invested in the case, states that to the best of their knowledge those items were necessary to conduct the appeal, and includes the date they took on the representation and an account of the steps taken. The motion is filed before the arbitrator or the administrative judge, depending on the stage of the administrative process.

5. 5

   Step 5: Who decides, and on what criteria

   The arbitrator or administrative judge who presided over the hearing forwards the motion to the Secretary with their recommendations and observations, plus a draft Resolution granting or denying the request, for the Secretary’s signature. In setting the amount, Article 9.4 requires considering, among others, the complexity of the case, the difficulty of the controversies, the time invested and the steps taken, all within a framework of reasonableness.

6. 6

   Step 6: If the case reached the courts

   Article 9.3 provides for it: where the legal representation took place before the courts, the motion seeking professional fees is filed with the Office of Appeals Before the Secretary, where it is processed under this same article, and the request must include a copy of the judgment issued by the Court.

7. 7

   Step 7: Two employer duties in the same regulation

   Article 10 sets them out, and they help precisely when you are fighting a claim. First: every employer must keep, in a visible place in its establishment, the literature the Department provides on workers’ rights and obligations under the unemployment programmes, which may include how to claim and receive benefits. Second, more concretely: after a week in which the employer, for lack of work, gave an employee less than a full working day, it must deliver — to the worker who requests it — evidence of their partial income within seven days of that week ending. Where applicable, the Bureau provides the employer with the Partial Unemployment Benefits Application form.

The fee motion is filed by the lawyer before the arbitrator or administrative judge handling the case, or with the Office of Appeals Before the Secretary if the representation was before the court. It is the Secretary of Labor who grants or denies it, by resolution.

• Paying fees up front in an unemployment case, when the lawyer may only charge what the Secretary approves.
• Accepting that fees come out of the benefit: what is authorised is paid from the Employment Security Administration Fund.
• Expecting an award above one thousand dollars, which is the per-case cap the regulation sets.
• Filing the request in the wrong forum: before the arbitrator or administrative judge depending on the stage, or with the Office of Appeals if it was in court.
• Omitting from the motion the date representation was taken on or the account of steps taken, which the article requires.
• Not asking the employer for the partial-income evidence, which Article 10 obliges them to deliver within seven days on request.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)

  Departamento del Trabajo

  www.trabajo.pr.gov

• Department of Labor and Human Resources — labour library

  dtrh

  www.trabajo.pr.gov