Richard E. Chait, Partner
Protecting The Rights Of Employees For More Than 90 Collective Years, Dedicated Workers' Compensation Lawyer Serving Miami
Richard is a partner and shareholder in the law firm of Touby, Chait & Sicking, PL. His firm represents injured workers and other clients pursuing various employee benefits throughout Florida. Richard was co-counsel with his law partners on the landmark Marvin Castellanos case where the Florida Supreme Court opined that strict caps on attorney’s fees in workers’ compensation were unconstitutional.
Throughout his career, Richard has served in a leadership capacity protecting the rights of injured workers and preserving the integrity of the overall workers’ compensation system. He is a past president of Florida Workers' Advocates (FWA), an organization that he helped to establish and flourish.
Following the Castellanos opinion, Richard had to transition into a full time legislative and government affairs role. Based on the realization that there was an ongoing need for this involvement, FWA created the Director of Legislative Affairs position and retained Richard to serve in this capacity. He proudly maintains this position on a full time basis while his law partners manage the representation of injured workers and other clients. He spends his time in Tallahassee whenever the legislature convenes and otherwise travels the state on a consistent basis meeting with members of the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate during the legislative offseason.
Richard is a past Chair of the Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Section and holds a District seat on the Section’s Executive Council. He also served on the Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate’s Joint Task Force on Workers’ Compensation.
Throughout his career, Richard has received numerous awards for his contributions to the workers’ compensation system. The Friends of 440 honored him as the Outstanding Attorney on behalf of injured workers, and FWA presented him with the inaugural David Levine Outstanding Leadership Award and inaugural Stewart Colling Legislative Leadership Award. The Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Section also presented him with the Frierson-Colling Professionalism Award. These and other honors and acknowledgments serve as a driving force for Richard, and he is equally proud and humbled to be recognized by his peers in this fashion.
Areas of Practice
- Workers' Compensation
Litigation Percentage
- 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
- Florida, 1988
A Champion for Workers' Compensation
Richard is a past Chair of the Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Section (2009-10) and has held a seat on the Section’s Executive Council since 2001. He currently serves on the Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Rules Advisory Committee. In 2010, he served on the Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate’s Joint Task Force on Workers’ Compensation.
Richard has maintained a vital role in Florida’s political, legislative, and leadership process, relevant to Workers’ Compensation issues, since his FWA presidency. He regularly works with the FWA leadership teams to formulate various strategies and other plans of action to advance the cause for injured workers. Richard spends extensive time in Tallahassee and traveling through other parts of the state on behalf of Florida’s injured workers and the Workers’ Compensation System. He has testified before the Florida Senate and House of Representatives during various legislative sessions. He has also provided testimony during several Workers’ Compensation Rules Hearings, and most recently, the Office of Insurance Regulation Workers’ Compensation Rate Hearing.
Awards & Recognition
Throughout his career, Richard has received numerous awards and recognitions from FWA, Friends of 440, and other organizations for his efforts and contributions on behalf of injured workers and the workers’ compensation system. In 2004, Friends of 440 honored him as the Outstanding Attorney on behalf of injured workers. During the 2007 FWA Educational Conference, he was presented with the inaugural David H. Levine Outstanding Leadership Award. Following the 2009 Legislative Session, FWA awarded Richard the inaugural Stewart L. Colling Legislative Leadership Award, and thus far he is the sole recipient of this honor. In 2015, the Workers' Compensation Section of the Florida Bar awarded Richard the Frierson-Colling Professionalism Award and the FWA bestowed upon him the inaugural Fill the Shoes Award.
Call us today at (305) 257-9472 to schedule a no-obligation, free consultation with one of our Miami workers' compensation attorneys.
Education
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University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables,
Florida
- Juris Doctor
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University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
- B.S., Bachelor of Science
- Major: Business Finance
Honors and Awards
- Jon E. Krupnick Award, 2016
- Cornerstone Award, 2016
- Bronze EAGLE Award, 2016
- Frierson-Colling Professionalism award, Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Section, 2015
- (Inaugural) Fill the Shoes Award, Florida Workers’ Advocates, 2015
- (Inaugural) Stewart L. Colling Legislative Leadership Award, Florida Workers' Advocates, 2009
- Legislative Shoe Leather Award, 2009
- (Inaugural) David H. Levine Outstanding Leadership Award, Florida Workers' Advocates, 2007
- Outstanding Injured Workers' Attorney, Friends of 440, 2005
- Legislative Shoe Leather Award, Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, 2002
- Outstanding Leadership and Dedication Award, Florida Workers' Advocates, 1997
- Eagle Talon Leadership Award, 1993
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Florida Workers' Advocates, Board of Directors (District Seat), 1993 - Present
- Workers' Compensation Section of Florida Bar, Executive Council (District Seat), 2001 - Present
- Member – Chair, Workers' Compensation Section (Current)
- Friends of 440, Board of Trustees, 1995 - Present, Board of Directors – 440 Scholarship Fund, 2003 - Present
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, Employee Advisory Board, 1996 - 1997
- Member - Workers' Compensation Task Force, 2009
- Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate, Member - Joint Task Force on Workers’ Compensation, 2010
Classes/Seminars
- Lectured for various professional organizations on a variety of subject matters involving Workers’ Compensation Law