Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Rader: A Lateral Attorney-Fee Commutation Ends When the Fee Is Paid

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 17, 2026

Gregg Rader received an award of permanent total disability with an attorney fee commuted laterally from weekly benefits. The dispute was whether the stated weekly reduction continued for life or stopped when the gross fee amount had been paid.

The award specified both a fee and a weekly commutation

The workers’ compensation judge awarded a fixed gross attorney fee and ordered that $50.40 be commuted laterally from each weekly permanent-disability payment. The payment language had to be read as a method for satisfying that fixed fee, not as a separate lifetime reduction.

A lateral commutation changes timing, not the total award

The Board explained that commutation advances the attorney fee while spreading its effect across benefit payments. It does not create an unlimited deduction after the amount awarded to counsel has already been collected.

The full weekly rate resumes when the fee is satisfied

Once the cumulative $50.40 reductions equal the gross attorney fee ordered by the judge, the reduction ends. The worker then receives the full permanent-total-disability rate stated in the award.

The decision is significant but not en banc precedent

The WCAB designated Rader as a significant panel decision because the issue recurs and warrants general guidance. Significant panel decisions are citable for their persuasive reasoning, but only en banc WCAB decisions bind other panels and workers’ compensation judges.

Key takeaways

• Identify the gross attorney fee fixed by the award.
• Track every weekly commutation against that gross amount.
• Do not treat a lateral commutation as a lifetime percentage reduction.
• Read the award and commutation order together before calculating arrears.