The Court has already determined that such an interpretation is incorrect. Moreover, Defendant's reliance on Sansone v. Crum , 201 So. 3d 1289 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) to suggest otherwise is misplaced. In Sansone , the question before the court was an employer/carrier's liability for attorney's fees under section 440.34(3)(b), which contains a thirty-day grace period for employers/carriers.
That year, however, the Legislature amended the statute by adding a provision according to which, even if these prerequisites are satisfied, attorney's fees will not attach "until 30 days after the date the carrier or employer, if self-insured, receives the petition." As this court explained in Sansone v. Crum , 201 So. 3d 1289, 1291 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) :Attorney's fees under section 440.34(3)(b) require the "successful prosecution of the petition," but fees cannot attach until thirty days after the employer receives the petition ... Therefore, an award under section 440.34(3)(b) requires some part of the ‘successful prosecution’ to occur after thirty days.