The Florida Supreme Court in Jacqueline Duprey v La Petite Academy, Case No. SC07-396 (July 12, 2007), rejected the petition of a claimant challenging the 2003 attorney fee statute based upon "conflict certiorari". The Supreme Court issued a brief opinion stating it was not going to accept the case for consideration based upon the alleged conflict between the First District Court of Appeals decision reversing the Judge of Compensation Claims ("JCC") previous order awarding an attorney fee in excess of the maximum fee allowed under the statute.

The Petitioner/Claimant was seeking to have the Florida Supreme Court exercise its discretionary jurisdiction based upon an asserted conflict between the District Court's opinion upholding the constitutionality of the statute and other decisions which ruled that limiting an attorney's fee to a percentage was not proper or constitutional. In Florida, the Supreme Court may exercise its jurisdiction to decide cases in which there is an express and direct conflict between opinions of the intermediate appellate courts. In a brief opinion, the Court indicated it would not be accepting jurisdiction and awarded the Employer/Carrier/Respondent an attorney's fee to be determined by the JCC on remand.

This decision by the Florida Supreme Court means the only pending case before it challenging the 2003 attorneys fee statute is Emma Murray v. Mariner Health/ACE USA, Case No.SC07-244. Jurisdiction in that case is being sought based on the fact the statute has been held constitutional, and the Court is being asked to exercise its authority to consider and rule upon the statute's validity. The Supreme Court has not yet acted on that petition, but the jurisdictional briefs have been filed and the matter has been under consideration since May 31.

Since the attorney fee statute limiting fees to a percentage of the benefit recovered by a claimant’s attorney became effective on October 1, 2003, there have been at least seven decisions issued by the First District Court of Appeals interpreting or upholding the statute as constitutional. Almost all of those decisions were sent to the Supreme Court, which has not accepted any of those cases for review.