Opinion
15-P-511
02-05-2016
MARY JANE DOONAN'S CASE.
NOTICE: Summary decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to its rule 1:28, as amended by 73 Mass. App. Ct. 1001 (2009), are primarily directed to the parties and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's decisional rationale. Moreover, such decisions are not circulated to the entire court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case. A summary decision pursuant to rule 1:28 issued after February 25, 2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted above, not as binding precedent. See Chace v. Curran, 71 Mass. App. Ct. 258, 260 n.4 (2008).
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28
In this appeal brought by Mary Jane Doonan (Doonan), the only issue is whether the administrative judge should have awarded an enhanced attorney's fee, as opposed to the standard fee actually awarded. We affirm.
Discussion. Doonan concedes that she did not request that the administrative judge exercise her discretion to award an enhanced fee and that any such award is completely discretionary. See G. L. c. 152, § 13A(5). Doonan also concedes that she is not entitled to a second hearing fee in connection with Doonan I. See Doonan's Case, 81 Mass. App. Ct. 1121 (2012). She argues that she had not been paid a prior attorney's fee in Doonan II, see Doonan's Case, 82 Mass. App. Ct. 1112 (2012), and is therefore entitled to an award pursuant to § 13(A)(5) where she has prevailed in obtaining an increased weekly benefit for the period of time at issue in Doonan II. Following this court's remands in both Doonan I and Doonan II, the administrative judge presided at another hearing on February 1, 2013, at which time Doonan prevailed and the administrative judge awarded her attorney's fees. However, as there was no claim for enhanced attorney's fees filed with the administrative judge, we deem it waived. It would have been appropriate to make this claim for enhanced attorney's fees when being awarded attorney's fees in conjunction with Doonan II. We also decline to award Doonan attorney's fees and costs associated with this appeal.
Decision of reviewing board affirmed.
By the Court (Trainor, Agnes & Massing, JJ.),
The panelists are listed in order of seniority. --------
/s/
Clerk Entered: February 5, 2016.