The number of workers’ compensation cases in Montgomery County is getting so out of hand that the county attorney’s office is seeking permission to farm out help to private-practice lawyers, according to officials.
County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said it’s just one of the specialized case types that is requiring outside help and that he’ll monitor in coming months.
The proposal County Council members are voting on this morning would make it possible for Rodriguez’s office to hire two extra lawyers from outside the county’s payroll.
Currently, two staff lawyers are dedicated to workers’ compensation cases, with two liability litigators able to “step in on an as-needed basis,” he said.
The problem is that the number of county workers suing Montgomery for injuries incurred on the job is soaring.
In the first half of 2005, for example, the county attorney’s office dealt with 1,047 cases, versus 1,165 in the first six months of this year.
Similarly, in January 2005, county lawyers went to court 145 times for workers’ comp cases compared with 199 for January two years later.
“We’ve already been stressing our capacity, and the trend is we’re in danger of exceeding our limits,” Rodriguez said.
An added complication is that the state’s workers’ compensation commission is increasing the number of cases it will hear, which could make Montgomery County’s backlog that much thicker, he noted.
As Rodriguez has only been in his position for several weeks, he said, he does not yet have a handle on the county departments with the highest numbers of workers’ comp suits or why the pattern is developing.
But the prediction among county officials is that lawyers who tend to defend plaintiffs in these cases are doing a better job of marketing their services. The department’s proposal for outside legal services is far from a first.
Two years ago, the county attorney’s office also sought council approval to use private-practice attorneys for workers’ compensation appeals cases.
More generally, the county has paid large sums to private lawyers in two scenarios: For an expertise it does not have, such as on bond and telecommunications issues; and when the caseload is simply too high, according to Rodriguez.
The most extensive example of the latter is the staggering increase in child-welfare lawsuits.
Rodriguez said he couldn’t provide numbers on such lawsuits to The Examiner on Monday.
The big difference is that the county has used federal aid to pay for private lawyers in these cases, Rodriguez said.
That’s not a possibility for workers’ compensation cases.
