Florida Statutes
Fla. Stat. § 440.31 (2025)
Witness fees.
✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us
JustiaFla. Statutes
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
440.31 Witness fees.—Each witness who appears in obedience to a subpoena shall be entitled to the same fees as witnesses in a civil action in the circuit court; however, any expert witness, as defined in Rule 1.390(a) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, who shall have testified in any proceeding under this chapter shall be allowed a witness fee, including the cost of any exhibits used by such witness, in such reasonable amount as the judge of compensation claims may determine, not in excess of the rate prevailing in the locality for witness fees for such expert witnesses in workers’ compensation proceedings, notwithstanding the limitation provided in s. 92.231.
History.—s. 31, ch. 17481, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 5966(31); s. 9, ch. 29778, 1955; s. 2, ch. 67-554; s. 23, ch. 78-300; ss. 24, 124, ch. 79-40; s. 21, ch. 79-312; s. 43, ch. 89-289; s. 56, ch. 90-201; s. 52, ch. 91-1; s. 8, ch. 91-46.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12
cases, 1967–2012 · leading case: Travieso v. Travieso, 474 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 1985).
Travieso v. Travieso, 474 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 1985). “Nevertheless, the Supreme Court was interpreting a workers compensation statute when it said: *1186 It is our view, in accord with that of the commission, that the statutory provision, F.S.A. § 440.31, for the award of expert fees authorizes only the payment of fees to experts…”
Murphy v. Tallardy, 422 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). “1967), a workers' compensation case that held that Section 440.31, Florida Statutes (1967) was not intended to allow expert witness fees for lawyers who testify in compensation cases relative to a claimant's attorney's fees.”
Paulk v. Sch. Bd. of Palm Beach Cnty., 615 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). “30, Florida Statutes, or section 440.31, Florida Statutes. While the latter enactments contain general provisions relating to the use of depositions and certain witness fees, section *262 440.”
S. Bakeries v. Cooper, 659 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). “(1991); see also § 440.31, Fla. Stat. (1991). However, there was no provision which would generally obligate another party to pay for the claimant's chosen medical examination.”
Crittenden Orange Blossom v. Stone, 492 So. 2d 1106 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). “[2] In Zabawczuk , the court held that section 440.31, Florida Statutes, providing for payment of expert witnesses fees, applied only to experts testifying with reference to direct benefits to the claimant, and was never intended to cover fees of witnesses testifying as to…”
Robert & Co. Assocs. v. Zabawczuk, 200 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 1967). “It is our view, in accord with that of the commission, that the statutory provision, F.S.A. § 440.31, [1] for the award of expert *804 fees authorizes only the payment of fees to experts testifying in the case with reference to direct benefits to the claimant, and that the…”
Mills v. Aronovitz, 404 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). “1967) [holding under the analogous workers' compensation statute, Section 440.31, Florida Statutes (1967), which authorizes fees to "any expert witness .”
Albertini v. McDonald's, 400 So. 2d 160 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). “Expert witness fees and costs of prosecution of a claim, on the other hand, are recoverable under Florida Statutes, Section 440.31 or Section 440.-32, neither of which require prior “authorization” by an employer or carrier.”
WA Doss & Sons, Inc. v. Barbato, 487 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). “We also reverse the deputy's award of expert witness fees to the two attorneys who testified on behalf of the claimant's attorney. The Florida Supreme Court has clearly established that attorneys who testify on the issue of attorney's fees in worker's compensation cases are not…”
Shannon v. Cheney Bros. Inc., 98 So. 3d 1228 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). “Alternatively, Shannon’s counsel requested payment of expert witness fees under section 440.31, Florida *1231 Statutes (2010).”
Mt. Sinai Med. Ctr. v. Lack, 381 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). “There is no record of the appellee's ever requesting authorization for their treatment, of the doctors' complying with the filing requirements of Section 440.31 or of any excuse for these failures.”
Powell v. Dickerson of Florida, Inc., 564 So. 2d 1220 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). “Section 440.31 Florida Statutes provides in pertinent part: Each witness who appears in obedience to a subpoena shall be entitled to the same fees as witnesses in a civil action in the circuit court; however, any expert witness, as defined in Rule 1.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.