Virginia Code 65.2-311: Expenses and attorney’s fees in action under § 65.2-309 or § 65.2-310
A. Except as provided in subsection B, in any action, or claim for damages, by an employee, his personal representative or other person against any person other than the employer, and in any such action brought, or claim asserted, by the employer under his right of subrogation provided for in § 65.2-309, if a recovery is effected, either by judgment or voluntary settlement, the reasonable expenses and reasonable attorney’s fees of such claimants shall be apportioned pro rata between the employer and the employee, his personal representative or other person, as their respective interests may appear.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 65.2-311
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Employer: includes (i) any person, the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and any individual, firm, association or corporation, or the receiver or trustee of the same, or the legal representative of a deceased employer, using the service of another for pay and (ii) any volunteer fire company or volunteer emergency medical services agency electing to be included and maintaining coverage as an employer under this title. See Virginia Code 65.2-101
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
B. If the employer is required to institute an action against any party to recover some or all of its lien pursuant to subsection D of § 65.2-309, the employer shall not be required to pay any share of the reasonable expenses and reasonable attorney’s fees associated with that portion of its lien that is not preserved by the employee, his personal representative or other person.
Code 1950, § 65-39.1; 1960, c. 89; 1968, c. 660, § 65.1-43; 1991, c. 355; 2004, cc. 914, 941.