Opinion
No. 07-1159.
January 30, 2008. Rehearing Denied March 12, 2008.
Appeal from the Office of Workers' Compensation-# 3, Parish of Calcasieu, No. 05-04552, Aaron Frank McGee, Workers Compensation Judge.
Thomas Allen Filo, Cox, Cox, Filo, Lake Charles, LA, for Secondary Plaintiff/Appellant, Dr. Fayez K. Shamieh.
Henry Clay Ward III, Attorney at Law, Lake Charles, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Liquid Transport Corp. and Great West Casualty Company.
Perry R. Staub Jr., Mark VanHorn, Larry E. Demmons, Taggart, Morton, Ogden, Staub O'Brien, L.L.C., for Intervenor, CCN Managed Care, Inc.
Judy Y. Barrasso, Stephen L. Miles, Edward R. Wicker Jr., Barrasso, Usdin, Kupperman, New Orleans, LA, for Other-Amicus for CCN: Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Helmsman Management Services Co., Employers Insurance of Wausau.
Court composed of GLENN B. GREMILLION, ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, and J. DAVID PAINTER, Judges.
Both appeals before this court, 07-1159 and 07-1282, come from the same proceedings, 05-4552, in the Office of Workers' Compensation (OWC). In appeal 07-1159, the defendants, Liquid Transport Corporation and Great West Casualty Company, appeal a judgment from the OWC ordering the defendants to pay the plaintiff, Dr. Fayez Shamieh, $122.50 in under-payment on a medical bill for the plaintiff's treatment of Rudolph Jackson, a workers' compensation claimant. The OWC also awarded Dr. Shamieh $4,000.00 in penalties ($2,000.00 for under-payment and $2,000.00 for late payment) and $3,950.00 in attorney's fees. The plaintiff, Dr. Shamieh, also appeals seeking additional attorney's for the work necessitated by this appeal. In appeal 07-1282, Community Care Network, Inc. (CCN), appeals a judgement of the WCJ denying its petition to intervene. For the reasons assigned in appeal number 07-1282, we reverse the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) rendered June 6, 2007 denying CCN's motion to intervene, nullify the judgment signed July 25, 2007 (in appeal 07-1159), and remand the case for additional proceedings consistent with this opinion. We defer consideration of the plaintiffs request for additional attorney's fees.