A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation act regarding the approval of disputed legal fees by the industrial commission.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 97‑90(f) reads as written:
"(f)	If a dispute arises between an employee's current and past attorney or attorneys regarding the division of a fee as approved by the Commission pursuant to this section, the Commission shall hear any dispute after the Commission has approved the settlement agreement. The Commission shall give notice to each of the employee's current and past attorneys of record of the total amount of the approved fee prior to determining how the fee shall be divided between those attorneys. An attorney who is an interested party to an action under this subsection shall have the same rights of appeal as outlined in subsection (c) of this section."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to claims pending on or after that date.